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:
“So happy anniversary. God bless you, and God bless the United States.”
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life,” he wrote on X. “Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
I was born here, and I love this country, and God bless us is all I can say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
God bless the Tartan Army in all their beery magnificence.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
I mumbled shy thanks while Togbe said, “Mama Kafui, God bless you o!”
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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
"Victory to Jesus," Korean pastor Pang Chang-in cries as he blesses a new church in the village of Jharlang, in the foothills of the Himalayas.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2023
He blesses our journey; we thank him and walk on.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
A town lawyer and Rowan reached a settlement that blessed the property as a restaurant, with some concessions from the private-equity billionaire, including a promise to never provide ferry access.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“We wish them and their family much happiness in this unique and blessed place,” the couple said in the statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
I am sure of it not because I remember writing this thing in fits and starts throughout Saturday, but because an A.I. detector called Pangram blessed these paragraphs with a “100% Human Written” score.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
"I'm blessed that I've come from a long line of commercial fishing, and I'm blessed that I had the opportunity to do it," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Wish she could have blessed the driver so he would have slowed down,” I tell her.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
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 the child grew, and the Lord blest him.
From Young Folks' Bible in Words of Easy Reading The Sweet Stories of God's Word in the Language of Childhood by Josephine Pollard
Last year, exactly zero hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland, which is kind of a bizarre blessing, although we’ve had dead-quiet hurricane seasons before.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
“The blessing is that we were able to flex resources down into the area and try for a very aggressive initial attack.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
"The grim physical state he found himself in has now ended, a blessing. Our blessing was that we had Tim Curry in our lives. RIP, my friend," he wrote.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
"Having them at the back door has been such a blessing for us."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
When everyone was seated again, the family held hands, Papa said a quick blessing over the food, and dinner began.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
