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.
This would make it the strongest El Niño since at least 1950, by potentially a large margin.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
"In fact, they are more likely to occur in the future, potentially with even more tragic consequences."
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
But “there is a real chance of genuinely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms that could potentially cause flooding,” Swain said, which he put at between 20% to 25%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
A sail exposed to an extremely powerful laser could potentially overheat or even melt.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
All water is potentially part of the ocean which surrounds the earth: in a river it flows downhill in order to realize its potential.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
