crash out

To crash out is to lose control: to snap, spiral or do something reckless because you’re angry, stressed or overwhelmed. As a noun, a “crashout” is the meltdown itself, or a person known for having them.

What it means

The word covers a wide range. At one end it’s a joke: crashing out because the group project partner didn’t reply, or because the Wi-Fi died during a game. At the other end it means a serious blowup with real consequences, which is closer to how it was first used. Most of the time online, it’s exaggeration.

Examples

• “If my order is wrong one more time I’m crashing out.”
• “He saw the score and fully crashed out. Threw his controller.”
• “Not me having a crashout over a parking ticket.”

Where it came from

Dictionary.com says it comes from African American English, with online examples going back to 2013. Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy is often credited with popularizing it through his 2017 song “Stepped On,” and TikTok skits spread it widely in the early 2020s. In March 2024 Atlanta rapper Baby Kia’s “OD CRASHIN” went viral and pushed it further.

Know Your Meme notes that as the word went mainstream, some Black creators criticized how casually it was being used, since it originally described situations with real stakes. The American Dialect Society listed “crash out” among its nominees for 2024 Word of the Year.

Other meanings of crash out

• In British English, to crash out can mean to fall asleep, usually suddenly or wherever you are.
• In sports, a team that crashes out of a tournament is knocked out, often unexpectedly.

Related terms

• malding: furious over a game
• rage quit: leaving in anger
• salty: bitter or annoyed
• shook: rattled or shocked
• delulu: delusional

See more terms like this in our Gen Z slang dictionary.