providential

[ prov-i-den-shuhl ]

See synonyms for providential on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of, relating to, or resulting from divine providence: providential care.
opportune, fortunate, or lucky: a providential event.

Origin of providential

1640–50; <Latin prōvidenti(a) providence + -al¹

Other words for providential

happy

See synonyms for providential on Thesaurus.com

Other words from providential

prov·i·den·tial·ly, adverb
non·prov·i·den·tial, adjective
non·prov·i·den·tial·ly, adverb
un·prov·i·den·tial, adjective
un·prov·i·den·tial·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with providential

providential , provincial

Words Nearby providential

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use providential in a sentence

Many readers understood all manner of news in providential terms.
How the News Business Found Its Footing | Nick Romeo | June 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Call it providential, but it is exactly the kind of role with which Anne Heche identifies.
Anne Heche’s Crazy New Movie, ‘That’s What She Said’ | Lorenza Muñoz | October 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
To return to his present day, his flux capacitor needed a providential shaft of lightning.
Stop Trying to Balance Budgets! | Harold Evans | June 28, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
He attended financially to all his children and saw to it that they had providential opportunities.
Castro Family Values | A. L. Bardach | September 20, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Then they can really seize a providential opportunity to draw a distinction between the White House and themselves.
Yikes, What Does the GOP Do Now? | The Daily Beast | May 2, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST

Under circumstances that might be regarded as providential, Thomas Hutchinson was at last unmasked.
The Eve of the Revolution | Carl Becker
God was in all things, and all things in God; but there was no idea of providential agency or of personality.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John Lord
The people worshipped no supreme creator, no providential governor, no ultimate judge of human actions.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John Lord
Every one seemed at once to turn to Inga, as though recognizing a providential authority.
The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson
The coming of the girl, Maggie, though a strange coincidence, Ruth looked upon as providential.
Ruth Fielding At College | Alice B. Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for providential

providential

/ (ˌprɒvɪˈdɛnʃəl) /

adjective

relating to, characteristic of, or presumed to proceed from or as if from divine providence

Derived forms of providential

providentially, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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