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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Because the 'aha moment' is the safe. —

Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2023 Such an insight was an aha moment. —

Zoe Ruffner, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2023 That was the aha moment. —

John Johnson Jr., Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2022 That was an aha moment. —

David Woods, The Indianapolis Star, 29 July 2021 That was the first aha moment. —

Blake Newby, Essence, 13 Apr. 2021 And that was really an aha moment for me. —

Fortune Editors, Fortune, 27 July 2022 So in all of that, that was my aha moment. —

Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 3 May 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aha moment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.