act of God
noun phrase
: an extraordinary interruption by a natural cause (such as a flood or earthquake) of the usual course of events that experience, prescience, or care cannot reasonably foresee or prevent
Examples of act of God in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
To hear Mayor Brandon Johnson’s finance team, this worrying situation was something that just happened to them — the equivalent of an act of God over which the city had no control and little time to respond.
—
The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 July 2025
Every tall and prodigiously skilled teen-ager feels like an act of God.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
Roseanne Barr believes the racist 2018 tweet that caused her thriving sitcom to be taken off the air was an act of God.
—Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 8 June 2025
The result is a movie that presents its titular Titan as a walking act of God… the kind of thing that, in the vein of Lovecraft, is almost too terrible for humanity to perceive.
—EW.com, 8 May 2025
But this might take more than an olive branch — probably an act of God.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 28 Apr. 2025
Floods are ‘acts of God,’ but flood losses are largely acts of man.
—Jeff Opperman, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
This stark difference demolished any argument that Fukushima’s failure was inevitable, an act of God or purely nature’s fault.
—Najmedin Meshkati, The Conversation, 15 Jan. 2025
At a time when risk assessment and prevention was still primitive, natural disasters and other acts of God were generally not covered, because there was no way to insure against what was still unforeseeable.
—Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
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The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 July 2025
Every tall and prodigiously skilled teen-ager feels like an act of God.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
Roseanne Barr believes the racist 2018 tweet that caused her thriving sitcom to be taken off the air was an act of God.
—Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 8 June 2025
The result is a movie that presents its titular Titan as a walking act of God… the kind of thing that, in the vein of Lovecraft, is almost too terrible for humanity to perceive.
—EW.com, 8 May 2025
But this might take more than an olive branch — probably an act of God.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 28 Apr. 2025
Floods are ‘acts of God,’ but flood losses are largely acts of man.
—Jeff Opperman, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
This stark difference demolished any argument that Fukushima’s failure was inevitable, an act of God or purely nature’s fault.
—Najmedin Meshkati, The Conversation, 15 Jan. 2025
At a time when risk assessment and prevention was still primitive, natural disasters and other acts of God were generally not covered, because there was no way to insure against what was still unforeseeable.
—Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Act of God.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/act%20of%20God. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
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