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Showing results for in the cards. Search instead for enjoy cards.
Synonyms

in the cards

Idioms  

  1. Likely or certain to happen, as in I don't think Jim will win—it's just not in the cards. This term, originally put as on the cards, alludes to the cards used in fortune-telling. [Early 1800s]

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.

So even if she finds a hubby, pups won’t be in the cards this year.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

If rolling meatballs is not in the cards on a weeknight, no worry.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

But pulling off a repeat performance in graphics processing units might not be in the cards, even with the current artificial-intelligence boom.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 13, 2026

But a rapid escalation in oil investments in Venezuela isn’t in the cards, even for Chevron, the only U.S. oil company operating in the oil-rich Latin American country, people close to the company said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

I might have been a good girl if it had been in the cards.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

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.