A structure and content of definition "crisis condition of society" as a transitional state, disintegration of existing values and simultaneous search for life orienteer having no any analogues are analyzed in the article. The structure of the given definition includes such components as "risk", "crisis" and "instability". The paper describes scheme of empirical sociological interpretation of basic definitions in frameworks of crisis phenomenon. The author analyses basic approaches to determine crisis. Crisis is a situation that conditioned by transformation of external or internal factors of environment, it has three characteristics: treat for base values, time limit to resolve situation, high level of uncertainty.

Key words: crisis condition of society, transitional condition, crisis, risk, instability, uncertainty, threat.