take a turn for the better

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.

Example Sentences

During the Obama era, it looked like things might finally take a turn for the better after the former president’s negotiating team worked out a deal in 2015 that promised to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

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After discovering the power of saying yes, Carl’s friendships, love life and career seem to take a turn for the better.

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

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

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Things did, however, take a turn for the better when I decided to go by my English middle name, Julia.

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