Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🌊 Rising sea level 📈 Peak moment
flood tide

flood tide

6.7
A time when success or popularity is at its highest
  • noun
  • /flʌd taɪd/
translation icon : apogeo
  • The project reached its flood tide last year.

Examples

  • She felt she was riding the flood tide of her career after the award.

  • The company reached the flood tide of its prosperity before the market crash.

  • At the flood tide of public interest, the campaign was more successful than ever.

  • The flood tide of interest in the new technology was remarkable.

  • As the company grew, it reached a flood tide of innovation, introducing cutting-edge products that changed the market.

  • The flood tide of enthusiasm during the festival energized everyone and brought the community together.

  • Her career hit a flood tide when she received the prestigious award for her groundbreaking research.

Synonyms

climax
vsflood tide
38 3.7

The most intense point in a process, event, or story

is the highest or most successful stage rather than excitement alone
high tide
vsflood tide
26 1.8

The time when the sea reaches its highest level

uses that literal water image to mean a peak moment of success
high water
vsflood tide
11 3.4

The time when the tide reaches its highest level

borrows that physical high point to describe success or peak development
zenith
vsflood tide
7 6.2

The highest point of success or power

emphasizes peak success in development rather than a neutral position
highwater
vsflood tide
5.9

The time when the sea or river reaches its highest level

applies that sea level condition metaphorically to a most successful stage

Antonyms

low
130 1.0

The point when something is at its smallest level

How High

zenith
7 6.2
flood tide
6.7
to peak
101 4.2
upturn
8 4.0
to rise
904 1.0

Surface Forms

flood tide singular
flood tides plural

Morphology

flood + tide

The literal meaning (the incoming or high tide) is clearly built from 'flood' (rising water) + 'tide' (movement/trend), and the MWE's figurative sense of a peak or high point is a straightforward metaphorical extension of that image. However, the shift from a physical tidal phase to 'most successful point' is a metaphorical mapping that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Flood tide uses the image of the sea rising to show a high point in a process. When the flood and tide are strongest, things are at their best or most successful, so the phrase means 'the highest or most successful point'.