breakneck

[ breyk-nek ]

adjective

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

   He raced through the streets at breakneck speed.

breakneck

/ ˈbreɪkˌnɛk /

adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of breakneck¹

First recorded in 1555–65; break + neck

Example Sentences

That uncertainty, which comes with untold economic repercussions, contributed to a slower-than-usual free agent market this winter — but one that now appears to have entered a final, breakneck phase.

From Washington Post

Founded in October 2017, the upstart coffee chain grew at an apparently breakneck pace to overtake Starbucks as China’s biggest bean-brew slinger by the start of the year.

From Fortune

Uggla built up the company through a breakneck series of acquisitions, culminating in the 2016 merger with IHS.

From Fortune

Nature’s agonizingly slow process of discovery, driven by cosmological and biological evolution on time scales of millions and billions of years, is accelerated to breakneck speeds in the laboratory.

From Quanta Magazine

Strangely, this is happening at a time when vaccine science in general seems to be advancing at breakneck speed.

From Fortune

Best Buy is caught up in the breakneck world of technological innovation.

From The Daily Beast

Democrats set out to woo a national network of extremely wealthy donors who could support the new breakneck fundraising pace.

From The Daily Beast

Private parts, be they of ducks, damselflies or dung beetles, turn out to have evolved novel forms at breakneck speeds.

From The Daily Beast

Then try to get a ticket for a Maple Leafs match, to watch the breakneck brutality in action.

From The Daily Beast

To maintain its breakneck growth, it almost has to look for younger members.

From The Daily Beast

It was really a breakneck sort of excursion, which is very rarely made even by the officers, and certainly never by ladies.

From Project Gutenberg

This coach, of course, traveled by relays, and at what was then considered breakneck speed.

From Project Gutenberg

With a grin the cabman touched his cap, the door banged, and the hansom set off as if the fare were in a breakneck hurry.

From Project Gutenberg

Mounted orderlies were dashing at breakneck speed between the Presidio and the city.

From Project Gutenberg

Sara Lee heard his car going at its usual breakneck speed up the street, and went to the door.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• headlong
• rapid