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
There, he will bless a plaque dedicated to Pope Francis -- who chose Lampedusa for his very first trip following his election in 2013 -- before celebrating mass in a sports field.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Because we were poor, and he was supporting this, bless his heart.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
I ache for my father to bless me; I hear Lev weeping, speaking the names of everyone who should be here but is not.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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
She wrote: "Autism blesses those of us who have it with the ability to spot fakes from a mile off."
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2022
And then—the glory—so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose, and dappling light under a tree blesses his eyes.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
During the celebration, a large papier mache mackerel is carried by bearers through the town over to the yacht club, before it is blessed and then burned at sunset.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I’ve had a super blessed writing career, but the highest highs I’ve ever had are on a baseball field.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
“I’m very delighted and blessed and thrilled to say I’ve got so many grandparents now.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I’m at 90% now, which is phenomenal. And I am truly blessed for it, but I can’t stop thinking of getting to 100%,” one wrote on Reddit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The walls were covered in wooden cabinets full of her gran’s dried divination herbs and blessed candles.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
In thee and thy love the blind monarch is blest:
From Baron Bruno Or, the Unbelieving Philosopher, and Other Fairy Stories by Louisa Morgan
When things go against you, leverage is a curse, not a blessing, as anyone who was on the wrong side of the housing crash nearly two decades ago knows.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Apple hopes to win the White House’s blessing to do business with the Chinese company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The nuptials culminated on Saturday with a wedding breakfast hosted by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who offered his blessing to the newlyweds.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It disavowed diversity efforts to win the FCC’s blessing but now is facing calls in California to embrace such commitments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
He started breathing heavily, and a panicky feeling made him want to stop the blessing immediately.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
