aha moment

plural aha moments · alternative aha! moment · alternative ah-ha! moment · alternative ah-ha moment

1. idiomaticThe moment or instant at which the solution to a problem, or some other significant realization, becomes clear.

   Her aha moment came in 2003: "This, I realized, was my passion."

   2007 March 8, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, “The Zeal For the Job”, in Time

   2 more examples

   We are never made to understand why Oskar Schindler, the Nazi war profiteer, risked his life to save more than 1,200 Jews; there is no defining Aha! moment that accounts for his heroism.

   1994 January 30, Peter Rainer, “Spielberg backlash strikes ‘Schindler’”, in Toledo Blade, USA, retrieved 15 Aug 2012, page E2

   Microsoft’s marketing gurus hope that Bing will evoke […] a sound — the ringing of a bell that signals the “aha” moment when a search leads to an answer.

   2009 May 28, Miguel Helft, “Microsoft’s Search for a Name Ends With a Bing”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 Aug 2012

   Synonyms: epiphany