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Synonyms

Promised Land

American  

noun

  1. heaven.

  2. Canaan, the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. Genesis 12:7.

  3. (often lowercase) a place or situation believed to hold ultimate happiness.

Promised Land British  

noun

  1. Old Testament the land of Canaan, promised by God to Abraham and his descendants as their heritage (Genesis 12:7)

  2. heaven, esp when considered as the goal towards which Christians journey in their earthly lives

  3. any longed-for place where one expects to find greater happiness or fulfilment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Promised Land Cultural  

  1. The land that God promised he would give to the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; the land flowing with milk and honey; the land of Canaan, or Palestine. The Israelites did not take it over until after the Exodus, when they conquered the people already living there.

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By extension, an idyllic place or state of being that a person hopes to reach, especially one that cannot be reached except by patience and determination, is called a “Promised Land.”

Etymology

Origin of Promised Land

First recorded in 1560–70

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.

What’s more, Levine and Prinsloo’s new neighborhood boasts a very impressive number of celebrity residents, not least Oprah, whose enormous Promised Land estate backs up to the couple’s new dwelling.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 15, 2025

Inside this edition, Cranach's map presents the stations of the wilderness wanderings and the division of the Promised Land into twelve tribal regions.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025

In the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, Amalek is a nation whose soldiers ambushed the Israelites as they made their way to the Promised Land.

From Salon • Nov. 13, 2023

Mikkelsen will also head to Venice for the premiere of his film The Promised Land, based on Ida Jessen's 2020 novel The Captain and Ann Barbara.

From BBC • Aug. 29, 2023

They sang protest songs and listened to community leaders who assured them that after hundreds of years spent wandering in the desert of segregation and oppression, the Promised Land was at last within sight.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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.