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View synonyms for moment of truth

moment of truth

noun

  1. the moment in a bullfight at which the matador is about to make the kill.
  2. the moment at which one's character, courage, skill, etc., is put to an extreme test; critical moment.


moment of truth

noun

  1. a moment when a person or thing is put to the test
  2. the point in a bullfight when the matador is about to kill the bull
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of moment of truth1

First recorded in 1930–35
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Idioms and Phrases

A critical or decisive time, at which one is put to the ultimate test, as in Now that all the bills are in, we've come to the moment of truth—can we afford to live here or not? This expression, a translation of the Spanish el momento de la verdad , signifies the point in a bullfight when the matador makes the kill. It was first used in English in Ernest Hemingway's story Death in the Afternoon (1932).

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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.

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