take a turn for the better

Idioms  

1. Improve, as in We thought she was on her deathbed but now she's taken a turn for the better. The antonym is take a turn for the worse, meaning “get worse, deteriorate,” as in Unemployment has been fairly low lately, but now the economy's taken a turn for the worse. This idiom employs turn in the sense of “a reversal,” a usage dating from about 1600.

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Example Sentences

Perhaps the world will take a turn for the better — we will finally address climate change and bequeath a habitable planet to our children.

From Washington Post • Jul. 14, 2021

Yet amid the furor, a ray of optimism presents itself that things can take a turn for the better.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2021

The group’s five-day hunt didn’t take a turn for the better until Saturday night, after scouting and hunting for three straight days and not seeing a thing.

From Washington Times • Oct. 11, 2020

But things soon take a turn for the better when she develops a growing attraction to a charming suitor who seems too good to be true.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2020

But I kept telling myself that my dating life was about to take a turn for the better.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi