turning point

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"turning-point" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“turning point” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.

Key facts for turning point
PropertyValue
Headwordturning point
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “turning point” sits in English frequency

turning point falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for turning point is 13 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for turning point, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is turning point, spelled T-U-R-N-I-N-G- -P-O-I-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.
  2. 2
    A maximum or minimum on a graph.
  3. 3
    A crossroads.
  4. 4
    A T-junction.
  5. 5
    A place at which one changes their direction of travel.

This word in other languages

punto de inflexión(Español)tournant(Français)Wendepunkt(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "turning point"?
"turning point" is spelled T-U-R-N-I-N-G- -P-O-I-N-T.
What does "turning point" mean?
As a noun, "turning point" means: A decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.
What language does "turning point" come from?
"turning point" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “turning point”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-U-R-N-I-N-G- -P-O-I-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list