potentially

adverb

po·​ten·​tial·​ly pə-ˈten(t)-sh(ə-)lē 

: in a potential or possible state or condition

—used to describe the possible results or effects of something

a potentially dangerous situation [=a situation that has the potential to be or become dangerous]

a potentially useful feature

By creating a personal home page, anyone can publish material that potentially can be read by millions of people worldwide.

—Peter H. Lewis

The phenomenon seemed significant for both the science of immunology and, potentially, for medicine.

—Daniel J. Kevles

Potentially adding to the cost of the bail-out is the prevailing FDIC notion that some banks are simply too big to fail.

—L. J. Davis

The result, they say, is that children are less compelled to play outside, potentially stunting emotional and physical development and exacerbating a nationwide epidemic of childhood obesity.

—Sumathi Reddy

Examples of potentially in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The technology could potentially be used to assist people with aphasia, who struggle with language expression due to damage around the language network; or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects speech, according to the study. —Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 14 Nov. 2025

The results offer a potentially bleak outlook for the Republican Party in next year's midterm elections, particularly if voters are motivated by economic factors. —Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 14 Nov. 2025

Sony Pictures has acquired screen rights to the Chinese brand and has set its sights on developing a feature film, and potentially a franchise, based on the ubiquitous and very trendy dolls that became a pop culture fixation over the past year. —J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 14 Nov. 2025

Much of Southern California is under flood watch as of Friday afternoon, with a month of rain expected in a day, and potentially dangerous flash floods in burn scar areas of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties after this year’s wildfires. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for potentially

• essentially
• confidentially
• exponentially
• inferentially
• experientially