aha moment

noun

variants: or less commonly Aha moment

Definition of 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

The idea for Rent the Runway was an aha moment, according to company history, when Hyman's younger sister bought a $2,000 designer dress to wear to a wedding and busted her credit card balance. — Maria Halkias, Dallas News, "Rent the Runway opens Arlington fulfillment center with 500-plus employees by year end," 5 June 2019 That was her first aha moment—and one that taught her to trust her gut. — Deanna Pai, Glamour, "How Every Celebrity in Hollywood Started Wearing Lilly Lashes," 31 July 2018 Her aha moment: Why not build the birds a tunnel that would shuttle them from the coast all the way back to the nesting site? — Sarah Sekula, USA TODAY, "Amazing animal adventures: See the world’s smallest penguins in New Zealand," 25 Apr. 2018 Bunny Eyez were designed by two sisters who had an aha moment while getting their hair colored and realizing their reading glasses weren't well-suited for the experience. — Southern Living, "Hoda Kotb Is Obsessed with These Reading Glasses," 19 June 2018 Zuckerberg’s admission was one of those Oprah-style aha moments. — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, "Delete Facebook and save your friends: What Mark Zuckerberg's shocking admissions can teach us about social media," 22 Mar. 2018 Even the villainous Julian gets a redemptive aha moment. — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Wonder': Film Review," 12 Nov. 2017 That awkward interval became an aha moment and inspired his Instant-On condom applicator—essentially a stiff band containing a condom. — Saabira Chaudhuri, WSJ, "The Quest to Build a Better Condom," 20 Oct. 2017 There was no aha moment or turning point that helped me embrace being Hapa. — Danielle M. Wong, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Ethnic Odd Girl Out," 17 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aha moment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.