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

The fall sale comes at an inflection point for Spirit Airlines. —Michael Cappetta, Travel + Leisure, 24 Sep. 2025

The general message was that Kirk's work was not over, and that the conservative movement as a whole was at an inflection point. —Rebecca Schneid, Time, 22 Sep. 2025

Moments like that are themselves inflection points. —Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 22 Sep. 2025

Sophisticated econometric forecasting models are bad at calling inflection points, when a lasting upward trend bends into a lasting downward one or vice versa. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1708, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for inflection point

• adjoint
• anoint
• appoint
• checkpoint
• conjoint
• disjoint
• endpoint
• gunpoint
• midpoint
• nonpoint
• pinpoint
• standpoint