god

¹ American  

[god] / gɒd /

noun

1. one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.

2. an image of a deity; an idol.

3. any deified person or object.

4. a nebulous powerful force imagined to be responsible for one's fate.

   The god of poker dealt me two aces.

5. Theater. gods,

   1. the upper balcony in a theater.

   2. the spectators in this part of the balcony.

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verb (used with object)

godded, godding

1. to regard or treat as a god; deify; idolize.

God ² American  

[god] / gɒd /

noun

1. the Supreme Being, worshiped as the creator or ultimate source of the universe.

2. the Supreme Being according to a particular religion or conception.

   She called upon Allah, the God of Islam, for help.

3. the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute.

   May the God of mercy comfort you.

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interjection

1. (used to express disappointment, disbelief, weariness, frustration, annoyance, or the like).

   God, do we have to listen to this nonsense?

god ¹ British  

/ ɡɒd /

noun

1. a supernatural being, who is worshipped as the controller of some part of the universe or some aspect of life in the world or is the personification of some force

2. an image, idol, or symbolic representation of such a deity

3. any person or thing to which excessive attention is given

   money was his god

4. a man who has qualities regarded as making him superior to other men

5. (in plural) the gallery of a theatre

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God ² British  

/ ɡɒd /

noun

1. theol the sole Supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and ruler of all and is infinite in all attributes; the object of worship in monotheistic religions

2. to behave in an imperious or superior manner

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interjection

1. an oath or exclamation used to indicate surprise, annoyance, etc (and in such expressions as My God! or God Almighty! )

God Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing God

• act of god
• for god's sake
• honest to god
• lap of the gods
• mills of gods grind slowly
• my god
• put the fear of god in
• so help me (god)
• thank god
• there but for the grace of god
• tin god

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Other Word Forms

• nongod noun
• semigod noun
• subgod noun
• undergod noun

Etymology

Origin of god¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch god, German Gott, Old Norse goth, Gothic guth

Origin of God²

see origin at god ( def. )

Explanation

A god is a supreme being or deity, and it's spelled with a lowercase g when you're not referring to the God of Christian, Jewish, or Muslim tradition. The ancient Greeks had many gods — including Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon. A physical representation of a deity is also called a god. If you go to Hawaii, you can even buy a god in a gift shop — a statue or idol that represents one of the Hawaiian gods, like a figure of the god Pele. The word god also refers to a man of superior quality or exceptional beauty. Elvis Presley was considered a god by many teenage girls in the late 1950s.

Example Sentences

"You are my god," Sanae Takaichi, a hard rock enthusiast, told the band's drummer Ian Paice, beaming as she handed him a pair of signed Japanese-made drumsticks.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

Oberon, an Archfey god, stood alongside them, concerned.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

“It was weird, she was like, ‘Oh my god, you live here?’”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

In Spell 16, a funerary procession, stacked like a doll’s house, shows Ankhmerwer kneeling before three representations of the sun god.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

In this rendition, the god of death is sculpted to look like a cunning old man, his hippo familiar by his side.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray