fate
something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.
the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.
that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.
a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.
death, destruction, or ruin.
the Fates, Classical Mythology. the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.
to predetermine, as by the decree of fate; destine (used in the passive): a person who was fated to be the savior of the country.
Origin of fate
1synonym study For fate
Other words for fate
Words that may be confused with fate
- fate , fete
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use fate in a sentence
We were lucky that way, able to work from home and avoiding the fate of thousands of Americans who lost their livelihoods during the pandemic.
The pandemic isn’t ending anytime soon. And our bodies are feeling the stress. | Petula Dvorak | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostAs fate would have it, and luck, and hard work, all together, and probably in that order, I’ve had these remarkable professional opportunities, and gotten to do things I never even dreamt that I could.
‘What we’ve seen since covid has been a precipitous increase in need,’ says Feeding America CEO | KK Ottesen | November 10, 2020 | Washington PostAs a result, the fate of the ACA is more uncertain than it seemed just a few months ago.
What Happens If the Supreme Court Overturns Obamacare? | Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux (Amelia.Thomson-DeVeaux@abc.com) | November 10, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightLawmakers had resolved the impasse by putting off action until the fate of the constitutional amendment could be decided on Election Day.
Va. lawmakers pass redistricting commission rules, end extraordinary session | Gregory S. Schneider, Laura Vozzella | November 9, 2020 | Washington PostDan and I talk cookie polls, Prop 22, and the uncertain fate of SF’s Japantown with Luke Tsai and LA’s downtown restaurant scene with Mona Holmes.
This was a wolf on the defensive, fating a pack which had turned upon his leadership.
Destiny | Charles Neville Buck
British Dictionary definitions for fate
/ (feɪt) /
the ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events
the inevitable fortune that befalls a person or thing; destiny
the end or final result
a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall
(tr; usually passive) to predetermine; doom: he was fated to lose the game
Origin of fate
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with fate
In addition to the idioms beginning with fate
- fate worse than death, a
also see:
- seal one's fate
- tempt fate
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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