fate
Americannoun
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fates
plural
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something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot.
It is always his fate to be left behind.
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the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time.
Fate decreed that they would never meet again.
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that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny.
Death is our ineluctable fate.
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a prophetic declaration of what must be.
The oracle pronounced their fate.
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death, destruction, or ruin.
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Classical Mythology. the Fates, the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.
verb (used with object)
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fates,
present (3rd person singular)
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fated,
past participle, past
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fating
present participle
noun
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the ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events
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the inevitable fortune that befalls a person or thing; destiny
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the end or final result
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a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall
verb
Synonym Usage
Fate, destiny, doom refer to the idea of a fortune, usually adverse, that is predetermined and inescapable. The three words are frequently interchangeable. Fate stresses the irrationality and impersonal character of events: It was Napoleon's fate to be exiled. The word is often lightly used, however: It was my fate to meet her that very afternoon. Destiny emphasizes the idea of an unalterable course of events, and is often used of a propitious fortune: It was his destiny to save his nation. Doom especially applies to the final ending, always unhappy or terrible, brought about by destiny or fate: He met his doom bravely.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fatesimple
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fatessimple
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have fatedperfect
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has fatedperfect
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am fatingprogressive
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are fatingprogressive
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is fatingprogressive
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have been fatingperfect progressive
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has been fatingperfect progressive
Past
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fatedsimple
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had fatedperfect
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was fatingprogressive
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were fatingprogressive
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had been fatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fate
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin fātum “what has been spoken, utterance, decree of fate, destiny,” originally neuter of fātus, past participle of fārī “to speak”
Explanation
Is it your fate to win a fortune in the lottery and retire young? Better hope so. Fate is like destiny, so that means winning the lottery would be an inevitable outcome. The word fate traces back to the Latin word fatum, meaning “that which has been spoken,” and something that's your fate is a done deal, not open to revision. If you feel like something is your fate, you feel it's beyond your control. Fate is often referred to directly, as if it were a supernatural power: “fate tore us apart." It can also describe your lot in life, like if it's your fate to take over the family farm.
Vocabulary lists containing fate
The Diary of Anne Frank
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"The Monkey's Paw," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act III
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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:
However, the emergence of Aleksandar Pavlovic, a Munich-born midfielder and Bayern academy graduate, eventually sealed Goretzka's fate.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Through whatever peculiar forces of fate, I have found myself amongst them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
You’re making a foundation, not sealing dinner’s fate.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
His surprise return to one of the most prominent offices in the land on Friday set the stage for a potential standoff between Mexico City and Washington over his fate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Here he was, trying to figure out which stocks to pick, but the fate of the stocks depended increasingly on the bonds.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
That's the no-man's land they're living in now, frantically looking at the respective fates of Senegal and Ecuador, Curacao and Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and others.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Arina Hooks, 45, an assistant vice president for a financial services company in Atlanta, viewed the reunion as a unique chance to help family members seize control of their economic fates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Because Goodhart takes her characters seriously — because she likes them, clearly — and because the actors sit so well in them, one is genuinely concerned for their fates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The fates of all three companies are intertwined, as their leaders—including Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei—have sparred with one another over a technology they helped launch together.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
It would be days before the families of the children who were lost there learned their fates.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
The prophecy also claims that the fated twins have the power to command daemons, supernatural beings with unearthly abilities.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
But he was fated to spend more than two-thirds of his career in opposition, and only briefly achieved cabinet rank.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Mr. Verini’s aim is a vital one: He seeks to go beyond the war crime to give shape and dimension to the everyday Ukrainians fated to become atrocity statistics at the theater.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Strout seems to be asking similar questions: How much of our existence is fixed or fated?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
If other children didn’t move so much, it just went to show that our lives were fated to be different from everyone else’s in the world.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Now was his hope a great bulk of will fating Its wish to being, now felt he he was blind In some point of his seen wish undefined.
From Antinous: A Poem by Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa
This was a wolf on the defensive, fating a pack which had turned upon his leadership.
From Destiny by Charles Neville Buck
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.
