epiphany

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A sudden moment of clear understanding when something important suddenly makes sense.

   Grammar: Often used with have or experience: have an epiphany.

   Patterns

   • have an epiphany
   • an epiphany about something

   She had an epiphany while washing dishes and decided to change careers.

   The trip gave him an epiphany about what he really wanted.

   After the lecture, there was a quiet epiphany in the room.

2. 2nounproperreligion

   A Christian festival on January 6 that celebrates the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus.

   Grammar: Written with a capital letter: the feast of the Epiphany.

   Patterns

   • on Epiphany

   Many churches hold a special service on Epiphany.

   In Spain, children receive gifts on Epiphany.

Word forms

Common combinations

have an epiphany

I had an epiphany halfway up the hill.

sudden epiphany

A sudden epiphany changed her plans.

spiritual epiphany

He described the sunrise as a spiritual epiphany.

moment of epiphany

There was a moment of epiphany when the story clicked.

experience an epiphany

Readers may experience an epiphany at the end of the novel.

Synonyms and how they differ

revelation

Revelation is a broader word for something newly disclosed, while epiphany stresses the personal moment of seeing clearly.

insight

Insight is quieter and can build gradually, whereas an epiphany is sudden.

realization

Realization is the everyday term for coming to understand, with less drama than epiphany.

eureka moment

Eureka moment is informal and playful and usually refers to solving a problem.

Opposites

Word family

epiphanic adjective

relating to or like an epiphany

epiphanies noun

plural of epiphany

epiphanous adjective

literary variant of epiphanic

Commonly confused: epiphany or epitome?

Practice

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