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:
Ratko Mladic, the so-called "butcher of Bosnia" who has reportedly died at the age of either 83 or 84, had insisted he was chosen by "fate" to defend the Serb people from a Western onslaught.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Tempting fate probably more on the actuarial table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Wright, a former CEO of Potbelly who previously held leadership roles at Wendy’s, said the company’s fate rests in the success of its restaurant operators, who have been feeling pinched in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
"It's my country, my fate, my dream," croons a singer.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
"The winner of our fight will decide the fate of the loser," The Knight of the Wood said.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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
Aiello expects more of its kind will suffer similar fates if nothing is done.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
A pensive denouement shifts to the characters’—and the crows’—postwar fates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
No comeback of this caliber occurs without something like supernatural help, and the fates of Madison Square Garden did their part on Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
But the dam had changed all our fates.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Jack and Sally’s fated romance is the final piece of the puzzle, the pièce de résistance that helps De Palma’s film rise above the other thrillers of its ilk.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 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
Strout seems to be asking similar questions: How much of our existence is fixed or fated?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
What we know and they don’t quite realize yet is that these young’uns are themselves fated to love each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
After Uranus it will plunge on past Neptune, leaving the solar system, becoming an interstellar spacecraft, fated to roam forever the great ocean between the stars.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
This was a wolf on the defensive, fating a pack which had turned upon his leadership.
From Destiny by Charles Neville Buck
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
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.
