aha moment

American

noun

Informal.

a point in time, event, or experience when one has a sudden insight or realization.

My aha moment was when I put on my shorts from last summer and they didn’t fit.

aha moment British

noun

an instant at which the solution to a problem becomes clear

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of aha moment

From the expression aha, used to signal sudden awareness or comprehension

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.

See Examples For:

aha moment

Discovering in the course of this book that Kim Thayil has synesthesia — a condition where one sense triggers another — was a huge aha moment.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026

Her big aha moment came after meeting with Janine Kyrillos, director of the Comprehensive Weight Management Program at Jefferson Health in Pennsylvania.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2024

There’s been this collective aha moment in the country where people who are 65 are saying I’m going to live until I’m 90.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024

“And, so that was my aha moment, because she had no answers. And that’s the problem — we don’t have answers.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2024

Mindy Jensen, a host of financial podcast “BiggerPockets Money,” had an aha moment with Sethi when she was a guest on his podcast.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023