curdle

A practicing Mormon, Coppins had no previous experience with gambling but quickly learned how easily the “joyful naivete” of his initial use “could curdle into delusion and compulsion.”

From Slate ● May 5, 2026

Piercing and horrible, the screaming is pitched to curdle the listener’s blood but not, in this instance, to overwhelm the voice of the narrator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

As co-written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, the reunion between the two former acting buddies starts warm but quickly begins to curdle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025

But I think that people think sometimes you'd be like, 'Oh, cream and citrus together, it going to curdle?'

From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024

It is very simple to make and merely involves letting the milk stand in the open air and curdle.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Hilarious and incisive, the humor never draws blood, never curdles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

There may be an undercurrent of gossip, like the hints of discord between Affleck and Leavitt, but nothing that curdles our mood.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2025

I’ve seen it over and over in my practice: A gesture that is initially received with intense gratitude curdles into hurt or anger.

From Slate ● Mar. 23, 2025

But the sweetness curdles when Peter learns that Nicholas, who lives with Kate in Brooklyn, has been acting volatile and would prefer to move in with him.

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2022

You have read this strange and terrific story, Margaret; and do you not feel your blood congeal with horror, like that which even now curdles mine?

From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

When Megan asked, "Whose first concert is this?" the air curdled with screams.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

And when the Bucks chose to send Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat instead, the Celtics’ dream scenario had suddenly curdled into a nightmare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

A decade in New York had promised stardom; by Christmas 2016, the promise had curdled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

Even as investor sentiment has curdled, TD Cowen believes a sustained appetite for data-center spending could cause Vertiv’s customer orders to accelerate as soon as the fourth quarter.

From Barron's ● Dec. 1, 2025

I drank it meekly, but it curdled in my stomach.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

I called Gao Shanwen back in 2019, early in Xi Jinping’s second term, when disappointment over Beijing’s failure to reform its state sector was curdling into something closer to alarm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

He returned to a hometown that seemed to be developing under that same American planning influence whose reputation was curdling up north.

From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024

The tagline — “What a guy! What a lug! What a hero! What a bum!” — illustrates the tentative truce between fans and umpires that is always, inevitably, one call from curdling.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024

That queasy, curdling feeling has finally been conquered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

It was like she was curdling inside, filling with anger.

From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder