How to Use crack-up in a Sentence

crack-up

1 of 2 noun
  • The Republican crack-up is coming — not over the Iran war and not today.
    — David M. Drucker, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
  • By the end of 1857, no one knew the crack-up of the Union was coming in three years, or that the nation would be in a civil war in four, but the portents were bleak.
    — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026
  • His view of America moves between the halls of power to the street, making his case for America’s crack-up with not just candidates and campaigns, but protests and pop culture too.
    — Literary Hub, 16 July 2024
  • For job seekers and their families and friends, navigating this white collar crack-up can no longer mean looking to the federal or state government for a new government program, department, or benefit.
    — Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • And yet for months, that crack-up has failed to meaningfully materialize in polls and focus groups, and the allegations of MAGA infighting have borne little resemblance to the real-world trajectory of conservative politics, where Trump still reigns supreme.
    — Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026

crack up

2 of 2 verb
  • Is tofu all it's cracked up to be?
    — Sam Woodward, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Are wealth and success all they're cracked up to be?
    — Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Wealth and success aren't all they're cracked up to be.
    — Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025
  • All of them, at some point or another, forced him to crack up.
    — Katey Rich, vanityfair.com, 1 Oct. 2017
  • Robbie agreed, leading them both to crack up.
    — EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Well, private jets aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, either.
    — Jonathan Margolis, Air Mail, 12 Apr. 2025
  • It’s filled with office snark and sarcasm that is sure to make the whole team crack up.
    — Brigitt Earley, Glamour, 11 Oct. 2024
  • The man cracked up even when there was no evident punch line on the horizon.
    — Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Jay Leno makes his friends crack up with his impressive mid-air stunt.
    — Jodi Upchurch, CNN, 13 Aug. 2021
  • Apa and Cline are both cracking up now as Apa drops one more bomb.
    — EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Brent had cracked up so hard that Pop had to drag him out of the sanctuary.
    — Tiphanie Yanique, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2019
  • The two cracked up laughing, and not about how Ohtani was swinging the bat.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 June 2025
  • According to a recent study, egg count tests aren't all they're cracked up to be.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Luckily the camera was off of some of us who were cracking up.
    — Adam Rathe, Town & Country, 30 Apr. 2018
  • Even the best in the comedy business can't help cracking up on set once in a while.
    — Jen Juneau, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024
  • Is one of London's most legendary hotels all it's cracked up to be?
    — Diana Pearl, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Wondering if the talk about using eggshells in your garden is all it's cracked up to be?
    — Lauren David, Southern Living, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Sure, the streets were still cracked up with poverty and inequality and chaos.
    — Wes Enzinna, Harper's magazine, 19 Nov. 2019
  • The condo that erupted in its place grew a crack up its side the first time the earth shook, and that became our view.
    — Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Scott Fitzgerald had fame and lost it, had money and spent it, had no money and cracked up.
    — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 22 Sep. 2024
  • With that, the couple both crack up in a way that only two people who are already in on the joke would.
    — Seth Combs Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022
  • The next round of the streaming revolution may be not be all it was cracked up to be either.
    — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
  • The lil dude even did a touchdown dance in his wheelchair that had the guys applauding and cracking up.
    — The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
  • As the audience cracked up, Comey smirked, and took another big sip of wine.
    — Emily Yahr, chicagotribune.com, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Winner This week's winner left us cracking up with his acting skills.
    — Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
  • Maybe the suburbs, and The ’Burbs, aren’t everything they’re cracked up to be.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The height difference between the dogs left people cracking up.
    — Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
  • There are shots of the three artists camping it up, with Iglesias cracking up with laughter at the end of the clip.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Still, a play that had the rest of the nation cracking up likely had the Seahawks steaming mad.
    — Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times, 17 Dec. 2018
  • The dogs were confused, not sure whether to attack or run for cover, and Susan was cracking up.
    — Sid Evans, Southern Living, 18 Feb. 2026

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

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