juncture

noun junc·ture \ ˈjəŋ(k)-chər \

|Updated on: 4 Jun 2018

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Examples: juncture in a Sentence

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Definition of juncture

1 : a point of time

at this juncture

; especially : one made critical by a concurrence of circumstances

2 a : joint, connection

b : the manner of transition or mode of relationship between two consecutive sounds in speech

3 : an instance of joining : junction

See juncture defined for English-language learners

See juncture defined for kids

juncture was our Word of the Day on 04/10/2015. Hear the podcast!

Examples of juncture in a Sentence

Negotiations between the countries reached a critical juncture.
At this juncture it looks like they are going to get a divorce.
the juncture of two rivers

Recent Examples of juncture from the Web

To a man, the Warriors point to that moment in Game 7 as a critical juncture.

— ann killion, SFChronicle.com, "A chaotic timeout saved the Warriors’ season," 31 May 2018
But in some ways, the coaching spot is the more important of the two Pistons posts at this juncture.

— vince ellis, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Pistons seek young, rising executive to be face of franchise," 24 May 2018
All this work goes at during an absolutely crucial juncture for Orbital ATK.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Solid Rocket City: The Utah Space Center Fighting for Its Life," 4 Apr. 2018
At this juncture, a new economic monster appeared: stagflation, a chimera of inflation, recession, and unemployment.

— caleb crain, The New Yorker, "Is Capitalism a Threat to Democracy?," 7 May 2018
At this juncture, the Billboard 200 will continue to not incorporate video streams.

— billboard staff, Billboard, "Billboard Finalizes Changes to How Streams Are Weighted for Billboard Hot 100 & Billboard 200," 1 May 2018
The reshuffling comes at a particularly tense juncture for Trump, who aides said is increasingly frustrated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation and with the senior officials at the Justice Department.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Giuliani says he is joining Trump’s legal team to ‘negotiate an end’ to Mueller probe," 20 Apr. 2018
The reshuffling comes at a particularly tense juncture for Trump, who aides said is increasingly frustrated by special counsel Robert Mueller III's investigation and with the senior officials at the Justice Department.

— the washington post, OregonLive.com, "She wore a dinosaur puppet during a military oath. It got her and a colonel removed from the job," 19 Apr. 2018
The play — frankly — is a bit of a lovable mess at this juncture.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "'The Doppelganger': Rainn Wilson trades 'The Office' for a gutsy, messy 'international farce' at Steppenwolf," 16 Apr. 2018

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

Did You Know?

Juncture has many relatives in English - and some of them are easy to spot, whereas others are not so obvious. Juncture derives from the Latin verb jungere (to join), which gave us not only join and junction but also conjugal (relating to marriage) and junta (a group of persons controlling a government). Jungere also has distant etymological connections to joust, jugular, juxtapose, yoga and yoke. The use of juncture in English dates back to the 14th century. Originally, the word meant "a place where two or more things are joined," but by the 17th century it could also be used of an important point in time or of a stage in a process or activity.

First Known Use of juncture

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2a

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juncture Synonyms

Synonyms

boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crisis, crossroad(s), crunch, emergency, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, tinderbox, zero hour;

Related Words

contingency, possibility;

climax, turning point;

happening, landmark, milestone;

condition, pass, situation, strait;

deadlock, impasse, stalemate;

corner, fix, hole, hot water, jam, last ditch, pinch, predicament, scrape, spot;

eleventh hour, last minute;

Phrases

moment of truth, point of no return;

Synonym Discussion of juncture

juncture, exigency, emergency, contingency, pinch, strait (or straits) crisis mean a critical or crucial time or state of affairs. juncture stresses the significant concurrence or convergence of events.

- an important juncture in our country's history

exigency stresses the pressure of restrictions or urgency of demands created by a special situation.

- provide for exigencies

emergency applies to a sudden unforeseen situation requiring prompt action to avoid disaster.

- the presence of mind needed to deal with emergencies

contingency implies an emergency or exigency that is regarded as possible but uncertain of occurrence.

- contingency plans

pinch implies urgency or pressure for action to a less intense degree than exigency or emergency.

- come through in a pinch

strait, now commonly straits, applies to a troublesome situation from which escape is extremely difficult.

- in dire straits

crisis applies to a juncture whose outcome will make a decisive difference.

- a crisis of confidence

JUNCTURE Defined for English Language Learners

juncture

noun

Definition of juncture for English Language Learners

: an important point in a process or activity
: a place where things join

JUNCTURE Defined for Kids

juncture

noun junc·ture \ ˈjəŋk-chər \

Definition of juncture for Students

: an important or particular point or stage in a process or activity

Learn More about juncture

See words that rhyme with juncture Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for juncture Spanish Central: Translation of juncture Nglish: Translation of juncture for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of juncture for Arabic speakers

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juncture

Definition of juncture

juncture was our Word of the Day on 04/10/2015. Hear the podcast!

Examples of juncture in a Sentence

Recent Examples of juncture from the Web

Did You Know?

First Known Use of juncture

juncture Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Phrases

Synonym Discussion of juncture

JUNCTURE Defined for English Language Learners

juncture

Definition of juncture for English Language Learners

JUNCTURE Defined for Kids

juncture

Definition of juncture for Students

Learn More about juncture

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