Meaning & use
Damascene
Describing a sudden, dramatic conversion or change of belief, based on the biblical account of Saul's transformation on the road to Damascus.
See it in a sentence
The senator's Damascene conversion on climate policy surprised colleagues who had known his old positions for decades.
His Damascene moment came after years of skepticism, when a single conversation changed his entire outlook.
A note on using this word
Damascene most often appears in the fixed phrase 'Damascene conversion'; a related, older sense describes the decorative technique of inlaying metal, called damascening.
Words with a similar meaning
dramatic conversion
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