blessing

noun

bless·​ing ˈble-siŋ 

1

a

: the act or words of one that blesses

say the blessing over the wine

a priestly blessing

b

: approval, encouragement

asked her parents for their blessing before he proposed

2

: a thing conducive to happiness or welfare

My daughter is a blessing to me in my old age.

Their absence turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Count your blessings.

3

: grace (see grace entry 1 sense 4) said at a meal

said the blessing before dinner

Synonyms of blessing

• prayer
• petition
• benediction
• benison
• plea

Examples of blessing in a Sentence

Presumably he was acting with the government's blessing.

They got married without their parents' blessing.

We asked the Lord's blessing on us and on our project.

He said a blessing before the meal.

Recent Examples on the Web

To age is a blessing and a beautiful thing. —Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026

View this post on Instagram Salamah said Alshabrawy's father gave his blessing before the proposal. —Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 20 May 2026

Once Tarantino gave his blessing for Fincher to come aboard, Netflix was the obvious stop given the director’s exclusive deal there. —Justin Kroll, Deadline, 20 May 2026

This happens only once every 12 years, and this blessing will stay until the end of June. —Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 20 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

see bless

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing blessing

• mixed blessing
• second blessing

Rhymes for blessing

• dressing
• guessing
• messing
• pressing
• stressing
• accessing
• addressing
• assessing
• caressing
• compressing
• confessing
• depressing

Kids Definition

blessing

noun

bless·​ing

ˈbles-iŋ

1

: the act or words of one that blesses

2

: approval

gave my blessing to the plan

3

: something that makes one happy or content

4

: grace said at a meal