divine
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a god, especially the Supreme Being.
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addressed, appropriated, or devoted to God or a god; religious; sacred.
divine worship.
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proceeding from God or a god.
divine laws;
divine guidance.
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godlike; characteristic of or befitting a deity.
divine magnanimity.
-
the divine kingdom.
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extremely good; unusually lovely.
He has the most divine tenor voice.
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being a god; being God.
Zeus, Hera, and other divine beings in Greek mythology.
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of superhuman or surpassing excellence.
Beauty is divine.
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Obsolete. of or relating to divinity or theology.
noun
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a theologian; scholar in religion.
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a priest or member of the clergy.
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the Divine,
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God.
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(sometimes lowercase) the spiritual aspect of humans; the group of attributes and qualities of humankind regarded as godly or godlike.
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verb (used with object)
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to discover or declare (something obscure or in the future) by divination; prophesy.
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to discover (water, metal, etc.) by means of a divining rod.
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to perceive by intuition or insight; conjecture.
She divined personal details about her customers based on their clothing and accents.
It was not difficult to divine his true intent.
- Synonyms:
- understand, discern
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Archaic. to portend.
verb (used without object)
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to use or practice divination; prophesy.
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to have perception by intuition or insight; conjecture.
- Synonyms:
- understand, discern
adjective
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of, relating to, or characterizing God or a deity
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godlike
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of, relating to, or associated with religion or worship
the divine liturgy
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of supreme excellence or worth
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informal splendid; perfect
noun
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(often capital) another term for God
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a priest, esp one learned in theology
verb
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to perceive or understand (something) by intuition or insight
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to conjecture (something); guess
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to discern (a hidden or future reality) as though by supernatural power
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(tr) to search for (underground supplies of water, metal, etc) using a divining rod
Other Word Forms
- divinable adjective
- divinely adverb
- divineness noun
- diviner noun
- half-divine adjective
- half-divinely adverb
- predivinable adjective
- pseudodivine adjective
- subdivine adjective
- subdivinely adverb
- subdivineness noun
- superdivine adjective
- undivinable adjective
- undivined adjective
- undivining adjective
Etymology
Origin of divine
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English divin(e), devin(e), from Old French devin(e), Latin dīvīnus, equivalent to dīv(us) “god” + -īnus -ine 1
Explanation
"To err is human, to forgive divine" means that everyone makes mistakes, but we should try to be like god and forgive one another. Divine basically means relating to, coming from, or like God or a god. Divine also has an old-fashioned and informal meaning of being very good or pleasing, as in "She looked absolutely divine in her blue and white gown." This is an adjective that goes back to Middle English, borrowed from Old French devine, from Latin dīvīnus "divine, foreseeing," from dīvus "god."
Vocabulary lists containing divine
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Raven"
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World Religions
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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.
The appointment of Alonso was meant to herald a new era, a Real Madrid with a defined style not solely reliant of individual skill or what at times felt like divine intervention.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
It showed the 79-year-old clad in a white robe and papal-red cape, a divine light emanating from the palm of one hand while the other hand was placed on an ailing man.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
There are, to be sure, some cases that involve the divine but they are not the norm.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
But if there is one Chili Peppers single that has attained divine feel-good hit status, it’s “Can’t Stop.”
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
The scents wrestle one another for superiority, but I don’t mind it; everything smells divine.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
