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
Shareholders would have to bless any deal at Tesla, where Musk now holds just under 20% of the vote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 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
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
I hand her the few bills and she says, “God bless you.”
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
These are from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus blesses the poor, the meek and the peacemakers, and then calls on his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
If California blesses liability for the pace of innovation, other states will feel the pull.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
As the echoing synth wanes, she blesses them and wishes them safety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
And his mother blesses him with water and basil leaves to keep the bad vibrations away.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
Uncle Leang looks at her, face hanging, eyes blinking rapidly, and blesses Ma for a safe journey.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
This blessed return to artful thinking was echoed again last week, when AMC announced its new distribution venture, Leawood Films, dedicated to getting as many eyes as possible on small and entirely independent movies.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall says she is "lucky and blessed to be alive" after being involved in a car crash.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
We’re blessed that Fanning survived the transition from precocious child actor to grown-up movie star with the skills to play a fictional disaster rather than be one offscreen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
At the Maria Cabrales school, principal Regla Maria Perera, 64, said there is an art to running a school that has no electricity and is not blessed with good natural light.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Others around the sides took up the idea and in a while blessed whiffs of outside air began to circle about us.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
“This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger. It is not a blessing of the broader merger,” Bonta said Monday.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
And when the 1907-built edifice required maintenance, some party members did not view it as a blessing.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
“I never thought the day would come that I’d have to say such a final goodbye. Getting the opportunity to love you will always be the greatest blessing in my life,” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
In the end, it must have felt like the greatest blessing.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
“This one has the blessing of gods and the spirit of the imbongi, Elder Fezile,” she said.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
