kismet

American  

[kiz-met, kis-] / ˈkɪz mɛt, ˈkɪs- /

noun

1. fate; destiny.

   It must have been kismet that brought the bride and groom together a year ago.

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kismet British  

/ ˈkɪzmɛt, ˈkɪs- /

noun

1. Islam the will of Allah

2. fate or destiny

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Usage

What does kismet mean? Kismet means fate or destiny.In Islam, kismet refers to the will of Allah. But it is popularly used to refer to something that one believes was “meant to be”—or the reason why such a thing happened. It can also be spelled kismat, but that’s much less common.Example: We ran into each other on Valentine’s Day, and neither of us had a date, so who was I to deny kismet?

Etymology

Origin of kismet

First recorded in 1840–50; from Turkish, from Persian qismat, from Arabic qisma, qismat- “division, portion, lot, fate,” akin to qasama “(he) divided,” from the (West) Semitic root qsm “to divide, allot”

Example Sentences

“Like with The Beatles, because it’s those four . . . it’s a kismet getting together of a certain group of people. And I think that’s very much what ‘Rocky Horror’ was.

From Salon • Oct. 22, 2025

A similar sort of casting kismet struck with Frankenstein when Andrew Garfield’s schedule forced him out of the monster role nine weeks before shooting was set to begin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025

You’re probably wondering how we ended up in this situation, experiencing this type of kismet and a perfectly scripted only-in-L.A. moment.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

Of all the social media platforms, it holds the greatest promise of kismet.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

But I do know you’ll work your entire life to be worthy of all that kismet has given you.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon