bless
Americanverb (used with object)
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blesses,
present (3rd person singular)
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blessed,
past participle, past
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blest,
past participle, past
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blessing
present participle
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to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.
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to request of God the bestowal of divine favor on.
Bless this house.
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to bestow good of any kind upon.
a nation blessed with peace.
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to extol as holy; glorify.
Bless the name of the Lord.
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to protect or guard from evil (usually used as an interjection).
Bless you! Bless your innocent little heart!
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to condemn or curse.
I'll be blessed if I can see your reasoning. Bless me if it isn't my old friend!
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to make the sign of the cross over or upon.
The Pope blessed the multitude.
verb
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to consecrate or render holy, beneficial, or prosperous by means of a religious rite
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to give honour or glory to (a person or thing) as divine or holy
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to call upon God to protect; give a benediction to
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to worship or adore (God); call or hold holy
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(often passive) to grant happiness, health, or prosperity to
they were blessed with perfect peace
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(usually passive) to endow with a talent, beauty, etc
she was blessed with an even temper
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rare to protect against evil or harm
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(interjection) an exclamation of well-wishing
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(interjection)
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a traditional phrase said to a person who has just sneezed
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an exclamation of well-wishing or surprise
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(interjection) an exclamation of surprise
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to be desperately poor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blesssimple
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blessessimple
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have blessedperfect
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have blestperfect
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has blessedperfect
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has blestperfect
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am blessingprogressive
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are blessingprogressive
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is blessingprogressive
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have been blessingperfect progressive
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has been blessingperfect progressive
Past
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blessedsimple
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blestsimple
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had blessedperfect
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had blestperfect
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was blessingprogressive
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were blessingprogressive
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had been blessingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bless
First recorded before 950; Middle English blessen, Old English blētsian, blēdsian “to consecrate” (originally done with blood), earlier *blōdisōian ( blōd “blood” + -isō- derivational suffix + -ian verb suffix); see blood
Explanation
To bless is to offer a holy seal of approval, like when a priest blesses water, making holy water. It’s also what people say when you sneeze: bless you, which is short for “may God bless you.” If you go back far enough, the word bless is related to the word blood, because of the blood sprinkled on pagan alters. It moved on to mean “to praise,” and now it’s a little of both (minus the pagans). In religious contexts, things are made holy when they're blessed. Also, people are blessed by good things that happen. People often say things like "I've been blessed with good health.” That means they were lucky to receive such good things.
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:
When Helmut Kohl pushed for France and the U.K. to bless reunification, he offered to limit the country’s military.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
“So happy anniversary. God bless you, and God bless the United States.”
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Nearby, Iowa state congressman Eddie Andrews was hanging off the back of a farm tractor draped with stars-and-stripes livery, shouting "God bless America!" at the top of his lungs to crowds headed toward the Mall.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
My wife does the bulk of the troubleshooting on these problems, bless her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
“And bless my heart,” I involuntarily added aloud, “it’s to-night!”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
If California blesses liability for the pace of innovation, other states will feel the pull.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
The firm’s sole female partner, Close’s Dina Standish, blesses their exit, encouraging them to take Nash-Betts’ lead investigator, Emerald Greene, with them.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
And his mother blesses him with water and basil leaves to keep the bad vibrations away.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
In González’s view, “God blesses those who shake hands with those who need it. I hope that the politicians think of us and give us that helping hand that we need.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
He blesses our journey; we thank him and walk on.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
And officials simultaneously blessed an untested idea pitched by wealthy prospective donors: pushing individual stocks directly into kids’ accounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The head of the Catholic Church blessed several babies as he stopped at different stages along the avenue as chants of "Leo, Leo" rang out.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Aboard the popemobile, the smiling pontiff blessed several babies and waved to worshippers, as he made his way from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy was installed.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Rarely, if ever, has international soccer been blessed with a deeper, more talented and charismatic group of young stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
“God blessed me with another child I didn’t have to birth or burp,” she’d say, and laugh.
From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome
It is “twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2017
"The nations, not so blest as thee / Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall; / While thou shalt flourish great and free, / The dread and envy of them all."
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2016
"In a land where movement is virtue, where the echo of heels clicking rapidly on pavement is inordinately blest, it is a grand, defiant, and edifying gesture to lie down for six months."
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2015
I blest His name that gave and took, That laid my goods now in the dust.
From The Guardian ● May 26, 2014
And he grew wise and tall, and was blest of God, and won the hearts of all who were near him, for they saw in him much to love.
From Young Folks' Bible in Words of Easy Reading The Sweet Stories of God's Word in the Language of Childhood by Josephine Pollard
Sitting shiva and reciting kaddish help a lost one’s memory become a blessing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Your $3 million windfall is a luxury, a blessing and, only if you let it, a curse.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
It’s a blessing of agency that sounds much easier to accept when you have more options than Cathy.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
“SNL” lives in the now, and that can be a blessing and a curse, like when you feel like you’ve seen the same cold open lampooning President Trump 15 times already.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“This is a difficult time, hermanica, and we each made the best choice we could. I am sure Mother and Father are blessing you from on high.”
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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.
