defining moment
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of defining moment
First recorded in 1980–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Start by capturing a defining moment that reveals your core character.
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
Kvaratskhelia and Dembele combined for the game's defining moment, while 20-year-old Desire Doue - the young face of the new PSG - tormented Vincent Kompany's side, coming close on several occasions in the second half.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
This atrocity was a defining moment for America and your pain and shock were felt around the whole world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
“Today marks the next phase of the Arm compute platform and a defining moment for our company.”
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
What was really just a theatrical side show was now being enshrined in memory as the defining moment in the revolutionary drama.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
