A sudden reversal of circumstances, especially in drama. The turn where what seemed secure collapses or what seemed lost is abruptly reclaimed. Peripeteia is structural, changing the story's direction by changing its stakes.

From Greek peripeteia "reversal," from peri- "around" + a verb meaning "to turn, to fall." Classical dramatic theory gave it shape, but its reach is everyday: lives, too, have turning points that feel like plot.