as in milestone
a point in a chain of events at which an important change (as in one's fortunes) occurs
a watershed moment in her life came when she inherited a reasonable sum of money and was able to start her own coffee shop
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in pivotal
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of watershed
Daniel Bain,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
This was after central Europeans were already loudly bemoaning the advance of muskrats into the vast Danube watershed.
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Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
22 June 2026
Laura A. Oda,
Mercury News,
20 June 2026
In 1969, riots broke out following a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ+ bar in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, leading to six days of violent protests that served as a watershed moment in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
—
ABC News,
15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for watershed
Noun
For more precise information, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a nonprofit that helps protect and restore the water quality of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers and their surrounding watersheds, samples the rivers and tributaries weekly each summer as part of its Swim Guide program.
—
Daniel Bain,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
This was after central Europeans were already loudly bemoaning the advance of muskrats into the vast Danube watershed.
—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
22 June 2026
Adjective
While Juneteenth became a federal holiday just five years ago, Bay Area communities have been celebrating the watershed event for over 80 years.
—
Laura A. Oda,
Mercury News,
20 June 2026
In 1969, riots broke out following a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ+ bar in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, leading to six days of violent protests that served as a watershed moment in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
—
ABC News,
15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for watershed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watershed
Noun
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Stay safe amid dangerous heat All are invited to celebrate America's milestone on the National Mall.
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Chapman allowed back-to-back singles after his milestone strikeout, but got Jo Adell to ground into a double play to secure his 17th save.
Adjective
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Women controlled children and property and played pivotal roles in tribe politics.
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Although her date with Daniel didn’t end well in the season 2 finale, Helen will play a pivotal role in the series.
Noun
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The short version is that after defeating the Kilrathi at the climax of Wing Commander 3, Mark Hamill’s Christopher Blair retires to a backwater world to live out a life in peace and obscurity.
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Each concert climaxes with Pinkerton’s sword fight against the Rat Reaperess, leading to the singer’s inevitable defeat.
Adjective
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The former touts Mohamed Salah, an epochal star with ample motivation after his fraught final campaign with Liverpool.
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The Cane Ridge Revival would become an epochal moment in American religious history, one of the most visible manifestations of what historians would later refer to as the Second Great Awakening.
Noun
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Molde’s appeal is not based on a single landmark, but on its position between fjord, coast, islands, and mountains.
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The Supreme Court has released a slew of opinions to mark the end of its current term, and one of them could prove to be a landmark case for personal protections.
Adjective
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If there is no fundamental change in the Iranian leadership’s rhetoric and policy, the United States must begin preparing, alongside its partners, for a more decisive phase of wartime policymaking.
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In the first decisive victory of this tournament’s knockout stage, France dominated Sweden Tuesday with a 3-0 win that guaranteed the French another match this week.
Adjective
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Not wrong for much of the last three decades — but Saturday night’s gig, and all the joyous revelry surrounding it, showed why the Live ’25 Tour has been payoff enough for none of them to look back in anger at any of it.
Adjective
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The three momentous events stand on their own, detached enough to seem entirely unrelated.
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At the time, this seemed like the more momentous day, as John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife Abigail on July 3.
Cite this Entry
“Watershed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watershed. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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