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. Compare close juncture, open juncture, terminal juncture.
   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. See junction
   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

Thomas’ genius is her ability to craft one man’s history in a way that illuminates the forces that brought us to this critical juncture.

From Time

Three years later, these projects—with names like Polkadot, Filecoin and Dfinity—are reaching a critical juncture.

From Fortune

Another crucial career juncture was Fraser’s decision to accept the role of running strategy for Citi at the beginning of the financial crisis.

From Fortune

At this important juncture, we asked several experts from different fields what their burning question about the coronavirus is.

From No Straight News

In 2016, polls showed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton ahead in numerous battleground states at this juncture in the race, but her lead narrowed and ultimately vanished in key states as October wore on.

From Washington Post

Logistics wins the day, and the Supreme Deity is, at this juncture, nowhere to be seen.

From The Daily Beast

There was no social cachet associated with jazz at that juncture in American history—if anything, the contrary.

From The Daily Beast

At a time when U.S.-Iran relations are at a crucial juncture, the claims in The Good Spy will not be welcome.

From The Daily Beast

The correlation between tiredness and activity is not proven—at this juncture, anyway.

From The Daily Beast

And then suddenly fall like a ten-pound weight on the keyboard at just the right juncture?

From The Daily Beast

Mr. Lowten bethought himself, at this juncture, of looking out of the window.

From Project Gutenberg

At this juncture lord Delaware arrived with three ships, 150 men, and plenty of provisions, and settled the colony.

From Project Gutenberg

The juncture was in a big, marshy, untillable flat, from which hills rose abruptly.

From Project Gutenberg

That his removal at this juncture was extremely convenient was a fact that, on the other hand, she carefully concealed.

From Project Gutenberg

But the obstacles which should have hindered his assailants hindered Garnache even more at this juncture.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crossroad