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Definition of midlife crisis noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

midlife crisis

noun
 
/ˌmɪdlaɪf ˈkraɪsɪs/
 
/ˌmɪdlaɪf ˈkraɪsɪs/
[usually singular]
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  1. the worried and disappointed feelings or lack of confidence that a person may feel in the middle part of their life
    • to go through a midlife crisis
    • He's having a mid-life crisis.
    Collocations The ages of lifeThe ages of lifeChildhood/​youth
    • be born and raised/​bred in Oxford; into a wealthy/​middle-class family
    • have a happy/​an unhappy/​a tough childhood
    • grow up in a musical family/​in an orphanage/​on a farm
    • be/​grow up an only child (= with no brothers or sisters)
    • reach/​hit/​enter/​go through adolescence/​puberty
    • be in your teens/​early twenties/​mid-twenties/​late twenties
    • undergo/​experience physical/​psychological changes
    • give in to/​succumb to/​resist peer pressure
    • assert your independence/​individuality
    Adulthood
    • leave school/​university/​home
    • go out to work (at sixteen)
    • get/​find a job/​partner
    • be/​get engaged/​married
    • have/​get a wife/​husband/​mortgage/​steady job
    • settle down and have kids/​children/​a family
    • begin/​start/​launch/​build a career (in politics/​science/​the music industry)
    • prove (to be)/represent/​mark/​reach a turning point in your life/​career
    • reach/​be well into/​settle into middle age
    • have/​suffer/​go through a midlife crisis
    • take/​consider early retirement
    • approach/​announce/​enjoy your retirement
    Old age
    • have/​see/​spend time with your grandchildren
    • take up/​pursue/​develop a hobby
    • get/​receive/​draw/​collect/​live on a pension
    • approach/​save for/​die from old age
    • live to a ripe old age
    • reach the grand old age of 102/23 (often ironic)
    • be/​become/​be getting/​be going senile (often ironic)
    • die (peacefully)/pass away in your sleep/​after a brief illness
    Topics Life stagesc2
See midlife crisis in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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