aha moment

noun

variants or less commonly Aha moment
: a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension
The aha moment you experience when you've been trying to remember the name of a song and three hours later it hits you …Jeffrey Kluger

Note: Aha is sometimes followed by an exclamation point and is also often placed in quotation marks.

That was the "Aha!" moment … that made the befuddlement worthwhile.Robin Marantz Henig
Her "aha" moment came about two years ago …Emily Weinstein

Examples of aha moment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
This is the aha moment—the experience of suddenly understanding. Melinda Fouts, Ph.d., Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024 What the group described as its aha moment was during last year’s New York Fashion Week and a show by designer Jason Wu. Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 13 Feb. 2024 That was probably the aha moment from a brand point of view. Jane Thier, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2024 The aha moment linking the infants came in August 2022, when Wadman was called upon to consult in the case of a baby who'd been born with birth defects. Erika Edwards, NBC News, 5 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for aha moment 

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of aha moment was in 1931

Dictionary Entries Near aha moment

Cite this Entry

“Aha moment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aha%20moment. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!