inflection point

noun

1

: a moment when significant change occurs or may occur : turning point

At 18, Bobby is at an inflection point that will largely determine the course of his life.

—Stacy Perman

… the gradual move away from big-iron machines toward work stations and personal computers has been going on for years in corporate America—but the inflection point came suddenly.

—Steve Lohr

It depends on us, on the choices we make, particularly at certain inflection points in history; particularly when big changes are happening and everything seems up for grabs.

—Barack Obama

2

mathematics : a point on a curve that separates an arc concave upward from one concave downward and vice versa

Examples of inflection point in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That uptick in transactions is typically an excellent sign of an inflection point in the cycle, Kuhl said. —Michelle Fox, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2024

As Mars stations retrograde in your eighth house on December 6, a story about debt, sharing, and the vulnerability that comes with depending on others reaches an inflection point. —Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Nov. 2024

That will have consequences for negotiations at next year’s COP, a critical 10-year inflection point on the 2015 Paris agreement, when countries are expected to come with more ambitious national climate plans. —Justine Calma, The Verge, 25 Nov. 2024

But for some teams, will this week also serve as an inflection point? —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1708, in the meaning defined at sense 2