kairos

1. The right, critical, or opportune moment to do or say something.

   synonyms:opportunitytiming

2. In rhetoric, the sense of fittingness and timing that makes a message especially persuasive in a particular situation.

   synonyms:appropriatenesstimeliness

Kairos comes from the Ancient Greek word kairos, meaning “the right time,” “season,” or “opportune moment.” In Greek thought, it was often contrasted with chronos, which refers to ordinary chronological or measurable time.

Kairos is most often used in rhetoric, philosophy, theology, literary criticism, and discussions of strategy or communication. It is not a common everyday word, but it is useful when talking about perfect timing, persuasive speech, or a decisive moment.

Kairos is uncommon in everyday conversation, but it appears regularly in academic, rhetorical, philosophical, and theological contexts.

The speaker understood kairos and waited until the audience was calm before delivering her most powerful point.

Launching the campaign during the national conversation about climate change was a clear example of kairos.

In rhetoric class, we learned that kairos is not just what you say, but whether the moment is right to say it.

Kairos is a wonderfully compact word for the magic of good timing. It comes from Ancient Greek, where it referred to the right or opportune moment, rather than time ticking by on a clock. That makes it different from chronos, the Greek root behind words like chronological. Today, kairos is especially popular in rhetoric, where it describes the perfect moment to make an argument land. Think of it as the word for striking while the iron is not just hot, but exactly hot enough.