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Synonyms

breakneck

American  
[breyk-nek] / ˈbreɪkˌnɛk /

adjective

  1. reckless or dangerous, especially because of excessive speed; hazardous.

    He raced through the streets at breakneck speed.
breakneck British  
/ ˈbreɪkˌnɛk /

adjective

  1. (prenominal) (of speed, pace, etc) excessive and dangerous

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of breakneck

First recorded in 1555–65; break + neck

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In their past two meetings with Celtic they had started slowly, but now they were moving at breakneck pace.

From BBC

When we visited the set on a recent freezing afternoon in Paju city, just north of Seoul, filming was moving at breakneck speed.

From BBC

In the announcement, OpenAI cited a series of user metrics pointing to a breakneck pace of AI adoption.

From Barron's

The breakneck pace of AI innovation—like recent updates around Anthropic’s Claude—is also making potential customers wary of sales commitments.

From The Wall Street Journal

Propping up breakneck delivery speeds are gig workers scrambling to hit deadlines.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.