epiphany

noun

epiph·a·ny | \ i-ˈpi-fə-nē

plural epiphanies

Definition of epiphany

1 capitalized : January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ

2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being

3a(1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something

(2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking

(3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

b : a revealing scene or moment

Examples of epiphany in a Sentence

Invention has its own algorithm: genius, obsession, serendipity, and epiphany in some unknowable combination. — Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 12 May 2008 One day, a New York composer met an expert on Asian domesticated elephants, and together they reached some sort of freakish epiphany and decided to see if elephants could learn to play music. — Jon Pareles, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2002 One epiphany came when a dozen engineers in northern New Mexico saw a lone, fading Xerox paper carton bobbing in a swamp of old motor oil at the bottom of a pit. — Michelle Conlin, Business Week, 1 Nov. 1999 Seeing her father again when she was an adult was an epiphany that changed her whole view of her childhood.

Recent Examples on the Web

With an unintended epiphany in engineering, Burnham realizes that the creature is trying to communicate with Discovery and in fact Saru's condition has been triggered by the creature's own pain. — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, "'Star Trek: Discovery' Is All About Friendship and Death This Week," 8 Feb. 2019 Their unexpected epiphany came in the most unexpected of places. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The Tiny Iowa College That Changed the NFL," 23 Oct. 2018 Politicians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries didn’t create and pass welfare policies because of sudden moral epiphanies. — Sarah Jones, The New Republic, "Lessons From the Gilded Age," 13 June 2018 But the kind of recruits capable of sudden epiphanies and late-season surges now seem to be gravitating to Duke. — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "John Calipari's confidence feels forced this time around | Tim Sullivan," 7 Feb. 2018 For Balanchine, who was assigned to stage it, Stravinsky’s score was an epiphany. — Alastair Macaulay, New York Times, "Bringing It All Back Home: City Ballet Begins Again With Balanchine," 25 Jan. 2018 Though a staggering 25 songs long, Scorpion could be a mere prelude, a stopping point, before a greater epiphany. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Why Drake Can’t Pull Off Being the ‘Good Guy’," 5 July 2018 The 29-year-old researcher said his work was sparked by an epiphany in his life a few years ago. — Author: William Wan, Anchorage Daily News, "Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction – with an app," 18 June 2018 The 29-year-old researcher said his work was sparked by an epiphany in his life a few years ago. — Author: William Wan, Anchorage Daily News, "Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction – with an app," 18 June 2018

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