potentially
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of potentially
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; potential + -ly
Explanation
Use the adverb potentially to describe something that could happen or might be true. Your backyard leaf burning project, for example, is potentially dangerous. When there's a possibility of something occurring or becoming reality, use the word potentially. All babies are potentially geniuses, and you might optimistically watch new TV comedies every fall in the belief that they're potentially funny. In other words, babies might turn out to be brilliant, and TV shows have the possibility of making you laugh out loud. The root word here is potential, from the Latin potentia, "power, might or force."
Vocabulary lists containing potentially
Bob
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The Man Who to the Far Side of the Moon and "Mayday on Moon of Jupiter"
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Storm Runners
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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.
They viewed 10 potentially harmful videos focused on dieting and body image, mimicking the behaviour of a new user showing interest in that kind of content.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Pay-TV distributors and consumers, the coalition said, need robust competition between programmers to encourage investment in content and potentially lower prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Researchers found that methane released in spacecraft exhaust may spread across the moon surprisingly quickly, potentially contaminating regions that could preserve ancient chemical clues about how life first emerged on Earth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
He was chatty and upbeat, and she told him she would try to find him work, potentially as an assistant at her law firm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
At issue were his violation of the sanctions, the fifteen years of back taxes he owed, and the taxes he potentially owed on the millions he’d just won.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
