peripeteia.

A decisive reversal in a character's situation, particularly one that changes expected success into failure or the reverse.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a dramatic peripeteia
• the tragedy's peripeteia
• recognition and peripeteia

On the page

The discovery of the seal produced the play's peripeteia: proof of innocence became proof of treason.

Her rescue of the messenger brought a peripeteia neither side had anticipated.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Singular peripeteia; plural peripeteias. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.