eventuality
Americannoun
-
a contingent event; a possible occurrence or circumstance.
Rain is an eventuality to be reckoned with in planning the picnic.
-
the state or fact of being eventual; contingent character.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of eventuality
Explanation
An eventuality is an event that just might happen in the future. For example, I store fresh drinking water in the basement to be prepared for several eventualities. You can see the word "event" at the beginning of eventuality. Use that as a clue to remember that an eventuality is an event that might happen — eventually. Winning the lottery, a Mars landing, finding a cure for cancer, nuclear war: these are just some of the eventualities for which we should either get ready or try to prevent. What do you think are some of the eventualities for which the team should prepare? Tripping, falling, and landing on your butt are all eventualities for which the odds will increase during the ice storm.
Vocabulary lists containing eventuality
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
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And Then There Were None
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John Lewis (1940–2020) Tribute List
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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.
See Examples For:
And there is now a growing eventuality that he will be back as England captain at Trent Bridge.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
The May 10 Substack essay that began circulating in the wake of her Instagram post did nothing to dispel that eventuality.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
It’s turned into an all too familiar ritual: college sports dancing around an eventuality, instead of proactively tackling the hardest parts head-on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Iran had previously said it was ready for any eventuality and defiantly refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which it closed in retaliation for the attack launched on February 28.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
To prepare for this eventuality, he ruled the house strictly according to tribal law, tolerating no deviance, particularly from his children.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Fully guaranteed money is protected against all three eventualities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
"So we're getting rid of that variability by making something that's across the board recognisable by your immune system that should cover you from all these eventualities ... a real big paradigm change," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Your vulnerabilities lie, mostly, in unexpected health eventualities.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025
This seemed part of a wider argument that Reform should ramp up its campaigning activities and be prepared for all eventualities.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2025
I just remember a period when, convinced that an apostrophe was definitely required somewhere, I would cunningly suspend a very small one immediately above the “s”, to cover all eventualities.
From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author
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.
