juncture

[juhngk-cher]

noun

1. a point of time, especially one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances.

   At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out.

2. a serious state of affairs; crisis.

   The matter has reached a juncture and a decision must be made.

3. the line or point at which two bodies are joined; joint or articulation; seam.

4. the act of joining.

5. the state of being joined.

6. something by which two things are joined.

7. Phonetics.

   1. a pause or other phonological feature or modification of a feature, as the lengthening of a preceding phoneme or the strengthening of a following one, marking a transition or break between sounds, especially marking the phonological boundary of a word, clause, or sentence: it is present in such words as night-rate and re-seed and absent in such words as nitrate and recede.

   2. the point in a word or group of words at which such a pause or other junctural marker occurs.

juncture

/ ˈdʒʌŋktʃə /

noun

1. a point in time, esp a critical one (often in the phrase at this juncture )

2. linguistics

   1. a pause in speech or a feature of pronunciation that introduces, accompanies, or replaces a pause

   2. the set of phonological features signalling a division between words, such as those that distinguish a name from an aim

3. a less common word for junction

Word History and Origins

Origin of juncture¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin junctūra, equivalent to junct(us) ( junction ) + -ūra -ure

Idioms and Phrases

see at this point (juncture).

Synonym Study

See junction.

Example Sentences

The contrarian trade at this juncture, Hartnett suggested, is to bet on a surprise tightening of financial conditions in the fourth quarter.

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It isn’t all headwinds for Milei at this crucial juncture in his two-year-old administration.

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Lastly, Lau regards the flow story to be compelling at this juncture.

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The strategists make it abundantly clear: there are no easy options at this juncture.

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“Earnings sentiment is at a critical juncture for the biggest market cap names in the S&P 500,” said Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets in a note published Sunday.

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Related Words

• crossroad