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Definition of midlife crisis noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

 

midlife crisis

 noun
noun
 
[usually singular]
 
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the feelings of worry, disappointment, or lack of confidence that a person may feel in the middle part of their life to go through a midlife crisis Topic CollocationsThe Ages of Lifechildhood/youth
  • be born (and raised) in New York; 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 home
  • graduate from school/college
  • go to work (at the age of 21)
  • get/find a job/partner
  • be/get engaged/married
  • have a wife/husband/mortgage/steady job
  • settle down and have kids/start a family
  • begin/start/launch/build a career (in politics/science/the music industry)
  • prove (to be)/represent/mark/reach a (major) 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
  • see/spend time with your grandchildren
  • take up/pursue/develop a hobby
  • get/receive/draw/collect/live on a pension
  • approach/save for/die of old age
  • live to a ripe old age
  • reach the grand old age of 102/23 (often humorous)
  • be/become/be getting/be going senile (often humorous)
  • die (peacefully)/pass away in your sleep/after a brief illness
See midlife crisis in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary