| Main Entry: | turning point |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | critical juncture |
Synonyms: |
axis, change, climacteric, climax, contingency, crisis, critical mass, critical moment, critical period, critical point, crossing, crossroads, crucial moment, crucial occurrence, crucial period, crunch, crux, culmination, cusp, decisive moment, defining moment, development, emergency, exigency, high noon, hinge, juncture, kairotic moment, moment of truth, moment of truth, nexus, pass, peak, peripeteia, pinch, pivot, pivotal moment, point of no return, race against time, rising action, shift, strait, transition, turn of the tide, twist, when push comes to shove, zero hour, zero hour |
| Main Entry: | axis |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | point around which something revolves |
Synonyms: |
arbor, axle, hinge, pivot, pole, shaft, spindle, stalk, stem, support, turning point |
| Main Entry: | climax |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | peak, culmination |
Synonyms: |
acme, apex, apogee, ascendancy, capsheaf, capstone, climacteric, crest, crowning point, extremity, head, height, high spot, highlight, intensification, limit, maximum, meridian, ne plus ultra, orgasm, payoff, pinnacle, pitch, summit, tiptop, top, turning point, utmost, zenith |
Antonyms: |
anticlimax, cliffhanger |
| Main Entry: | contingency |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | chance happening; possibility |
Synonyms: |
accident, break, chance, crisis, crossroads, emergency, event, eventuality, exigency, fortuity, happening, if it's cool, incident, juncture, likelihood, occasion, odds, opportunity, pass, pinch, predicament, probability, strait, turning point, uncertainty, zero hour |
Antonyms: |
certainty, definiteness, reality, surety, truth |
| Main Entry: | crisis |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | critical situation |
Synonyms: |
big trouble, catastrophe, change, climacteric, climax, confrontation, contingency, corner, crossroad, crunch, crux, culmination, deadlock, dilemma, dire straits, disaster, embarrassment, emergency, entanglement, exigency, extremity, height, hot potato, hour of decision, imbroglio, impasse, juncture, mess, moment of truth, necessity, pass, perplexity, pickle, pinch*, plight, point of no return, predicament, pressure, puzzle, quandary, situation, stew, strait, trauma, trial, trouble, turning point, urgency |
Antonyms: |
calm, peace |
| Main Entry: | critical mass |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | crucial point |
Synonyms: |
climax, crisis, crisis point, critical juncture, critical point, critical stage, crossroads, crossroads, crucial moment, crunch time, decisive moment, defining moment, do or die time, emergency, high noon, high noon, irreversible momentum, moment of truth, pivotal point, point of no return, sink or swim time, the Rubicon, turning point, zero hour |
| Main Entry: | emergency |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | crisis, danger |
Synonyms: |
accident, climax, clutch*, compulsion, crossroad, crunch, depression, difficulty, distress, exigency, extremity, fix, hole, impasse, juncture, meltdown, misadventure, necessity, pass, pinch*, plight, predicament, pressure, push, quandary, scrape, squeeze, strait, tension, turning point, urgency, vicissitude, zero hour |
Antonyms: |
calm, peace |
| Main Entry: | exigency/exigence |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | difficulty; demand |
Synonyms: |
acuteness, constraint, contingency, crisis, criticalness, crossroad, demandingness, dilemma, distress, duress, emergency, extremity, fix, hardship, imperativeness, jam, juncture, necessity, need, needfulness, pass, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, pressingness, pressure, quandary, requirement, scrape*, stress, turning point*, urgency, vicissitude, want, wont, zero hour |
Antonyms: |
ease, easiness, ordinariness |
| Main Entry: | flash point |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | crucial moment |
Synonyms: |
breaking point, crisis, critical moment, hour of decision, moment of truth, turning point, zero hour |
| Main Entry: | milestone |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | achievement |
Synonyms: |
anniversary, breakthrough, discovery, event, landmark, milepost, occasion, turning point, waypost |