god
1 Americannoun
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one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
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an image of a deity; an idol.
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any deified person or object.
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a nebulous powerful force imagined to be responsible for one's fate.
The god of poker dealt me two aces.
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Theater. gods,
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the upper balcony in a theater.
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the spectators in this part of the balcony.
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verb (used with object)
noun
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the Supreme Being, worshiped as the creator or ultimate source of the universe.
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the Supreme Being according to a particular religion or conception.
She called upon Allah, the God of Islam, for help.
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the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute.
May the God of mercy comfort you.
interjection
noun
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a supernatural being, who is worshipped as the controller of some part of the universe or some aspect of life in the world or is the personification of some force
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an image, idol, or symbolic representation of such a deity
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any person or thing to which excessive attention is given
money was his god
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a man who has qualities regarded as making him superior to other men
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(in plural) the gallery of a theatre
noun
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theol the sole Supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and ruler of all and is infinite in all attributes; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
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to behave in an imperious or superior manner
interjection
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of god1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch god, German Gott, Old Norse goth, Gothic guth
Origin of God2
see origin at god ( def. )
Explanation
A god is a supreme being or deity, and it's spelled with a lowercase g when you're not referring to the God of Christian, Jewish, or Muslim tradition. The ancient Greeks had many gods — including Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon. A physical representation of a deity is also called a god. If you go to Hawaii, you can even buy a god in a gift shop — a statue or idol that represents one of the Hawaiian gods, like a figure of the god Pele. The word god also refers to a man of superior quality or exceptional beauty. Elvis Presley was considered a god by many teenage girls in the late 1950s.
Vocabulary lists containing god
Reading: Literature - Mythology - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - Middle School
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Ancient Greece: Mythology and Literature - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A chorus of “oohs!” rang around the field, and one teammate said, “Oh my god, Carter … you got knocked on your ass!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
After studying classics at Cambridge, his acting career led to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the role of Loki, the god of mischief and “the boundary crosser.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“By the grace of god, we’ll be able to make it through this.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Doctors have to maintain this image of being "some kind of god" - a shield that absorbs everything and remains alright, he explains.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
She constantly had to prove she was the best, even if it meant fighting a god.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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It also said: "God is still holding your body together, every heartbeat, every breath, even when it feels like you are on the brink."
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Well, thank God the Dodgers broke baseball’s longstanding tradition of segregation long before Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“The God of Ballet was telling me: ‘You’re meant to do ballet.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“And I used to say, ‘Well, God, I want to be him.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
I back away as the Sky God grows nearer.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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That made its giant beast gods feel real too, along with their snarling rage against annihilation.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Unlike in Homer or even “Clash of the Titans,” which showed the gods as toga-clad twits toying with mortal lives like action figures, they have little, if anything, to do in this plot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
So, every victory represents progress in the tournament but also one more opportunity to enjoy the man who managed to reach the same heights as Diego Maradona in our pantheon of football gods.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The social media gods have been good to Matejka, and the Kardashian story is only half of it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
“I wanted to pay my respects, to praise the gods for this victory.”
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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This last old man, Whom with a crack'd heart I haue sent to Rome, Lou'd me, aboue the measure of a Father, Nay godded me indeed.
From Coriolanus by Shakespeare, William
The earth not paeans thee, nor serves thy hest, Be godded not by Heaven! avert thy face, And leave to blank disgrace The oblivious world! unsceptre thee of state and place!
From New Poems by Thompson, Francis
This last old man, Whom with crack'd heart I have sent to Rome, Lov'd me above the measure of a father; Nay, godded me indeed.
From Coriolanus by Shakespeare, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.