juncture

[juhngk-cher]

noun

1. a point of time, especially one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances.

   At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out.

2. a serious state of affairs; crisis.

   The matter has reached a juncture and a decision must be made.

3. the line or point at which two bodies are joined; joint or articulation; seam.

4. the act of joining.

5. the state of being joined.

6. something by which two things are joined.

7. Phonetics.

   1. a pause or other phonological feature or modification of a feature, as the lengthening of a preceding phoneme or the strengthening of a following one, marking a transition or break between sounds, especially marking the phonological boundary of a word, clause, or sentence: it is present in such words as night-rate and re-seed and absent in such words as nitrate and recede.

   2. the point in a word or group of words at which such a pause or other junctural marker occurs.

juncture

/ ˈdʒʌŋktʃə /

noun

1. a point in time, esp a critical one (often in the phrase at this juncture )

2. linguistics

   1. a pause in speech or a feature of pronunciation that introduces, accompanies, or replaces a pause

   2. the set of phonological features signalling a division between words, such as those that distinguish a name from an aim

3. a less common word for junction

Word History and Origins

Origin of juncture¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin junctūra, equivalent to junct(us) ( junction ) + -ūra -ure

Idioms and Phrases

see at this point (juncture).

Synonym Study

See junction.

Example Sentences

But here's the kicker - Sabalenka's tendency to combust at a critical juncture means only three of those have resulted in titles.

From BBC

Los Angeles city leaders are at a critical juncture ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, with potentially hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at stake.

From Los Angeles Times

China's foreign ministry said earlier in the week the bilateral relationship was at a "critical juncture of building on past achievements and opening up a new chapter".

From BBC

The former Real Sociedad forward, as things stand, will enter the final two years of his contract next summer - a juncture where Newcastle face significantly more jeopardy.

From BBC

Rayner was attempting a "Houdini act" by focusing on "whether she wasn't or was a member at this juncture," and said Labour should instead be asking where it was "going wrong".

From BBC

Related Words

• crossroad