psychological moment

noun

The best time to do something, when those involved are in the most workable state of mind.

OriginGerman psychologische Moment →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpsychological moment (plural psychological moments)

plural psychological moments

  1. The best time to do something, when those involved are in the most workable state of mind.

    At length the psychological moment arrived, and the sorcerer called upon her to deliver the child[.]

    1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 41

Origin

  1. Germanpsychologische Moment
  2. Englishpsychological moment

Derived from a misunderstanding of German psychologische Moment, where Moment actually means momentum.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

psychological moment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psychological%20moment

MLA

“psychological moment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psychological%20moment. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “psychological moment,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psychological%20moment.

Source: psychological moment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.