eureka moment

British

noun

a moment at which a person realizes or solves something

"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

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.

I think my first eureka moment was when I was traveling in sub-Saharan Africa on the Ivory Coast doing a site visit.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

He has supported people in the community "four, five, six times before you get that eureka moment and you don't see them again."

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025

"That was the real eureka moment," said Dr. Merghoub.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2025

We learn, for example, that there’s far more to the penicillin story than the casual history of Alexander Fleming’s eureka moment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025

Hudson leans in, puts his fist underneath his chin, and stares off into the sky like he’s just had the most epic eureka moment and is now ready to remake the world.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

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