American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

A sudden change of events or reversal of circumstances, especially in a literary work.

peripeteia, peripetia, peripety

Literature. a sudden change in the course of events, especially in dramatic works.

See also: Drama

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.