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Glite Dictionary
to have one's moment

to have one's moment

8 6.7
Show strong or good qualities for a short time
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : tener su momento
  • After years of hard work, she finally had her moment to shine at the award ceremony.
  • have his moment in the spotlight
  • let him have his moment
  • finally have his moment

Examples

Synonyms

finest hour
vsto have one's moment
11 4.6

A moment when a person has their greatest success in life or work

refer to occasional notable displays rather than a life's peak achievement
moment in the sun
vsto have one's moment
6 5.3

A short time when someone gets attention or success

occurs as occasional displays of skill rather than sustained public attention

How Notable

to have one's moment
8 6.7
to slip under the radar
  • Informal
1 6.3

Surface Forms

have one's moment infinitive
had one's moment past
had one's moment past participle
having one's moment present participle
has one's moment third person singular

Morphology

have + one + moment

The meaning is directly built from 'have' (to experience) + 'one's' (possessive) + 'moment' (a short period of significance), so a learner who knows the parts can infer it means to experience a brief period of notable attention or success. This is a common, compositional pattern in English (and appears in parallel forms in other languages), so it should be immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Have one's moment comes from the image of a short moment in the spotlight, when someone who is usually quiet or ordinary steps forward and shines. So, it means 'to have a short time when you show your best or act in a way people do not usually see'.