eureka moment

noun

variants or less commonly Eureka moment

: a moment of sudden, triumphant discovery, inspiration, or insight

… he would later tell, over and over, the story of how the idea for the collection came to him—the Eureka moment—improving it with each rendition.

—Donald Dale Jackson, Smithsonian, October 1988

Then one day, listening to a Communist fulminator in Pioneer Square, he'd had a eureka moment in which he realized that the way to get ahead in his new country was to exploit some labor himself.

—Jonathan Franzen, Freedom, 2010

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Love words?

You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with:

• More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary
• Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
• Advanced search features
• Ad free!