Meanings
plural turning points
- idiomaticA decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road / Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
1997, Billie Joe Armstrong, “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”, performed by Green Day1 more example
Europe will be watching the final battle closely. A Hollande victory in the second round would be a turning point in European politics, a rare victory for the left in Europe, which has in recent years moved towards the right
2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The GuardianSynonyms: crossroads, watershed
- roadA crossroads.
- roadA T-junction.
- roadA place at which one changes their direction of travel.
Chicago was the turning point of my journey and I left there at midnight abroad ^([sic]) the "Chicagoan," an express of the New York Central System.
1953 July, Allen Rowley, “First Impressions of American Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 493
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans keerpunt
- keerpuntdecisive point
Arabic نقطة تحوّل
- نقطة تحوّلdecisive point
Bulgarian повратна точка, екстремум
- повратна точка (povratna točka)decisive point
- екстремум (ekstremum)(calculus) maximum or minimum
Chinese Mandarin 轉折點 /转折点
- 轉折點 /转折点 (zhuǎnzhédiǎn)decisive point
Danish vendepunkt, vendepunkt
- vendepunktdecisive point
- vendepunkt(calculus) maximum or minimum
Dutch keerpunt, wendepunt
- keerpuntdecisive point
- wendepuntdecisive point
Finnish käännekohta, murros
- käännekohtadecisive point
- murrosdecisive point
- ääriarvo(calculus) maximum or minimum
- käännepiste(calculus) maximum or minimum
French tournant, moment charnière
- tournantdecisive point
- moment charnièredecisive point
German Wendepunkt, Zäsur
- Wendepunktdecisive point
- Zäsurdecisive point
- Extremwert(calculus) maximum or minimum
Hebrew נקודת מפנה
- נקודת מפנהdecisive point
Hungarian fordulópont
- fordulópontdecisive point
Icelandic þáttaskil
- þáttaskildecisive point
Italian svolta, inversione
- svoltadecisive point
- inversionedecisive point
Japanese 転機, 変わり目
- 転機 (tenki)decisive point
- 変わり目 (kawarime)decisive point
Korean 전기, 전환점
- 전기 (jeon'gi)decisive point
- 전환점 (jeonhwanjeom)decisive point
Latin discrīmen
- discrīmendecisive point
Māori taihuringa
- taihuringadecisive point
Norwegian vendepunkt
- vendepunkt(calculus) maximum or minimum
Norwegian Bokmål vendepunkt
- vendepunktdecisive point
Persian نقطهی عطف, دگرگونگاه
- نقطهی عطفdecisive point
- دگرگونگاهdecisive point
Polish punkt zwrotny, ekstremum funkcji
- punkt zwrotnydecisive point
- ekstremum funkcji(calculus) maximum or minimum
Portuguese virada de mesa, ponto de inflexão
- virada de mesadecisive point
- ponto de inflexãodecisive point
Romanian punct de cotitură
- punct de cotiturădecisive point
Russian перело́мный моме́нт, поворо́тный моме́нт
- перело́мный моме́нт (perelómnyj momént)decisive point
- поворо́тный моме́нт (povorótnyj momént)decisive point
- поворо́тный пункт (povorótnyj punkt)decisive point
Spanish punto de inflexión
- punto de inflexióndecisive point
Swedish vändpunkt, extremvärde
- vändpunktdecisive point
- extremvärde(calculus) maximum or minimum
Thai จุดวิกฤต, จุดวกกลับ
- จุดวิกฤต (jùt-wí-grʉ̀t)decisive point
- จุดวกกลับ (jùt-wók-glàp)(calculus) maximum or minimum
Turkish dönüm noktası, dönemeç
- dönüm noktasıdecisive point
- dönemeçdecisive point
- kırılma noktası(calculus) maximum or minimum
Ukrainian перело́мний моме́нт, поворо́тний моме́нт
- перело́мний моме́нт (perelómnyj momént)decisive point
- поворо́тний моме́нт (povorótnyj momént)decisive point
- поворо́тний пункт (povorótnyj punkt)decisive point
- перело́м (perelóm)decisive point
Vietnamese bước ngoặt, bước quyết định
- bước ngoặtdecisive point
- bước quyết địnhdecisive point
Cite this entry
turning point. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turning%20point
“turning point.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turning%20point. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turning point,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turning%20point.
Source: turning point on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.