flop sweat

noun

: nervous sweat (as of a performer) caused especially by the fear of failing

Examples of flop sweat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Guests such as Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira) and Mulaney’s real-life hypnotherapist bumped up against comedians including Sarah Silverman and Jerry Seinfeld, who gushed flop sweat while having to talk about stuff that wasn’t promo or stand-up disguised as banter. Bethy Squires, Vulture, 10 May 2024 Nearly 50 years later, the soundtrack is still soaked in flop sweat. Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 22 Jan. 2024 Quaid personifies flop sweat as White, a Louisiana pharmacist who brings his brother Jeff (Rice) along on his pilot lesson — to heckle him, apparently — before the two of them, aided by his wife Terri’s (Graham) sauce, take first prize in a barbecue cook-off. Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 6 Apr. 2023 Time to deck the halls with angst and flop sweat! San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Dec. 2021 A lot of that confidence melted into flop sweat during the celebrity interviews. Neal Justin, Star Tribune, 20 June 2021 Not the brilliant but marginalized borderline personality so popular in today’s television, but the real deal, a creature held together by flop sweat, desperate cunning and doggedly delusional ambition. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022 In the lead-up to Sunday’s 94th Oscars ceremony on ABC, there’s been all kinds of panicked flop sweat about dwindling audience numbers and reversing the trend. Chicago Tribune Staff, chicagotribune.com, 25 Mar. 2022 Will these steps liven up the show, or give it an aura of flop sweat? oregonlive, 8 Mar. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flop sweat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of flop sweat was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near flop sweat

Cite this Entry

“Flop sweat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flop%20sweat. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.

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