identity crisis
12
5.5
- noun
- /aɪˈdɛntɪti ˈkraɪsɪs/
:
crisis de identidad
- I might be having a secret identity crisis.
- resolution of an identity crisis
- resolve an identity crisis
- collective identity crisis
And by the way, we are having an identity crisis in the world today.
- And by the way, we are having an identity crisis in the world today.
- We're still working on this identity crisis.
- Hungary was undergoing its own identity crisis, one that would lead it to the brink of a neo fascist state.
- Why I had an identity crisis like a week.
- So identity crisis is the first step towards that dark path.
- That said, you have also been traumatised by the surgery, by the identity crisis.
Examples
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I had an identity crisis two years ago, and since then, I've been working to know myself.
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And by the way, we are having an identity crisis in the world today.
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Now I'm having an identity crisis.
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Tribalism can be attributed to the identity crisis that exists among faculty and students.
Academic text (1992) -
Belgium was beset by a creeping national identity crisis that took almost 200 years to come to a head.
Academic text (2002) -
For many years, Erikson's theory was best known for its designation of the "identity crisis" of adolescence.
Academic text (1993) -
As Europe's identity crisis plays out, it is unsurprising that a new brand of anti-Americanism should emerge.
Academic text (2003) -
After losing his job, Tom experienced an identity crisis, wondering who he was without that role.
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Many young adults go through an identity crisis as they transition from school to the workplace.
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During her college years, she faced an identity crisis, struggling to define her beliefs and values.
Antonyms
How Clear
3
4.2
12
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a period of uncertainty about one’s sense of self' is directly derivable from combining 'identity' (who someone is) with 'crisis' (a period of difficulty or turning point). This simple noun+noun composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'crisis de identidad') and thus a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase identity crisis paints a clear picture: identity is who you are, and a crisis is a sudden moment of doubt, like standing at a fork in the road and not knowing which way to go. So, identity crisis means a time when someone 'questions who they are' or their 'place in society'.