1
: the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do : destiny
… fate sometimes deals a straight flush … he had no idea that he would become the right man in the right place at the right time …—
June Goodfield
June Goodfield2
a
: an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end
Her fate was to remain in exile.
3
a
: final outcome
Congress decided the bill's fate by a single vote.
b
: the expected result of normal development
prospective fate of embryonic cells
c
: the circumstances that befall someone or something
did not know the fate of her former classmates
4
Fates plural
: the three goddesses, Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, who determine the course of human life in classical mythology
Synonyms
Examples of fate in a Sentence
Noun
… the fate of our species is bound up with those of countless others, with which we share a habitat that we cannot long dominate …
—John Gray, Times Literary Supplement, 11 Sept. 1992
So what went wrong? I ask Syd again, glancing ahead to the inevitable end. What quirk of fate, this time round, Syd, checked the great man's stride?
—John le Carré, A Perfect Spy, 1986
Often there is a specified character on whom a work hinges and whose fate we follow, a Raskolnikov or a Hamlet …
—Robert Penn Warren, Democracy and Poetry, 1975
The money goes down one-two-three on the table, fives and tens and twenties, and the wheel begins to spin. Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows. It's up to fate. Kismet, as they say.
—Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, 1959
They thought they would never see each other again, but fate brought them back together.
a surprising turn of fate
One company went bankrupt, and a similar fate befell the other.
Her fate was sealed by the marriage arrangement made in her youth.
Verb
Given what was going on when the magazine was started, Utne Reader seems fated to have happened—it was simply an idea that fit the times.
—Eric Utne, Utne Reader, March/April 1994
It was during this interregnum between the acquisition of regional power and the actual use of it that Henderson was fated to enter the picture.
—Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993
Who are my viewing companions at this hour? Dazed and confused, we are isolated in sunken couches, empty beds and cheap hotel rooms across this crumbling nation, one through MTV but fated never to meet.
—Hugh Gallagher, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 1993
the warning that the lack of an advanced education will fate a person to a lifetime of below-average earnings
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John Gray, Times Literary Supplement, 11 Sept. 1992
So what went wrong? I ask Syd again, glancing ahead to the inevitable end. What quirk of fate, this time round, Syd, checked the great man's stride?
—John le Carré, A Perfect Spy, 1986
Often there is a specified character on whom a work hinges and whose fate we follow, a Raskolnikov or a Hamlet …
—Robert Penn Warren, Democracy and Poetry, 1975
The money goes down one-two-three on the table, fives and tens and twenties, and the wheel begins to spin. Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows. It's up to fate. Kismet, as they say.
—Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, 1959
They thought they would never see each other again, but fate brought them back together.
a surprising turn of fate
One company went bankrupt, and a similar fate befell the other.
Her fate was sealed by the marriage arrangement made in her youth.
Verb
Given what was going on when the magazine was started, Utne Reader seems fated to have happened—it was simply an idea that fit the times.
—Eric Utne, Utne Reader, March/April 1994
It was during this interregnum between the acquisition of regional power and the actual use of it that Henderson was fated to enter the picture.
—Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993
Who are my viewing companions at this hour? Dazed and confused, we are isolated in sunken couches, empty beds and cheap hotel rooms across this crumbling nation, one through MTV but fated never to meet.
—Hugh Gallagher, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 1993
the warning that the lack of an advanced education will fate a person to a lifetime of below-average earnings
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Recent Examples on the WebRachel Lerman, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
But its major bet on generative artificial intelligence has deeply intertwined its fate with that of a seven-year-old Silicon Valley startup with a volatile management structure.
—Wsj Staff, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
The structure that enabled a small number of people without ties to the company to decide Altman’s fate, originally intended to keep OpenAI’s technology beneficial to humanity, has come under new scrutiny.
—WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023
Thus, a child's IQ scores, which rank cognitive abilities such as reasoning, began to play an outsize role in determining countless students' educational fates.
—Sarah Carr, Scientific American, 16 Nov. 2023
His killer was never caught, and the motive seemed to lie in some macabre interplay of politics and passion—the sort of fate that, in the American imagination, could only befall a foreigner.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play the pair, who navigate their complex emotions for each other in this touching film about cultural identity and fate.
—Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Nov. 2023
Thursday previews don’t necessarily determine a movie’s fate, but The Marvels is off to do a worrisome start.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Nov. 2023
When a physicist considers the fate of this falling cockroach, their first step is to change the problem into something simpler.
—WIRED, 10 Nov. 2023
Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023
Born and raised in Triton, perhaps it was fated that Whalen now a thing or two.
—Jennifer Billock, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2023
Still, Tanya Chutkan did not seem fated to take the world by storm.
—Robert Draper, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023
When every character is fated, in turn, to meet their end, the lead-up loses its drama; every death occurs at the end of a long, rote recitation of incidents rather than as the culmination of a chaotic or unsettling turn of events.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 11 Oct. 2023
Named after a Peruvian revolutionary and born to a Black Panther, Shakur was almost fated to reject authority and speak for the disenfranchised.
—Spin Staff, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023
Perhaps this collaboration has been fated for the past 20 years and was well worth the wait.
—Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2023
That was there too, but at its heart was a yearning for everything that the novel usually leaves out and that, in darker moments, seemed fated for destruction.
—Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
His Project Cassandra honored the Trojan priestess fated to utter true prophecies but never to be believed, as part of Kelly's efforts to raise alarms about the convergence of drug trafficking and terrorism.
—Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 17 July 2023
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Noun
The latest developments come amid a dizzying several days for OpenAI that has put the future of the firm in doubt, a drastic change of fate for a company that until just days ago was considered one of the most promising start-ups in Silicon Valley.
—Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
But its major bet on generative artificial intelligence has deeply intertwined its fate with that of a seven-year-old Silicon Valley startup with a volatile management structure.
—Wsj Staff, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023
The structure that enabled a small number of people without ties to the company to decide Altman’s fate, originally intended to keep OpenAI’s technology beneficial to humanity, has come under new scrutiny.
—WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023
Thus, a child's IQ scores, which rank cognitive abilities such as reasoning, began to play an outsize role in determining countless students' educational fates.
—Sarah Carr, Scientific American, 16 Nov. 2023
His killer was never caught, and the motive seemed to lie in some macabre interplay of politics and passion—the sort of fate that, in the American imagination, could only befall a foreigner.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play the pair, who navigate their complex emotions for each other in this touching film about cultural identity and fate.
—Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Nov. 2023
Thursday previews don’t necessarily determine a movie’s fate, but The Marvels is off to do a worrisome start.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Nov. 2023
When a physicist considers the fate of this falling cockroach, their first step is to change the problem into something simpler.
—WIRED, 10 Nov. 2023
Verb
And inspiring the tales that followed the Beowulf text, the warrior who faced the dragon was fated for tragedy, slaying the beast but being mortally injured in the battle.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023
Born and raised in Triton, perhaps it was fated that Whalen now a thing or two.
—Jennifer Billock, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2023
Still, Tanya Chutkan did not seem fated to take the world by storm.
—Robert Draper, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023
When every character is fated, in turn, to meet their end, the lead-up loses its drama; every death occurs at the end of a long, rote recitation of incidents rather than as the culmination of a chaotic or unsettling turn of events.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 11 Oct. 2023
Named after a Peruvian revolutionary and born to a Black Panther, Shakur was almost fated to reject authority and speak for the disenfranchised.
—Spin Staff, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023
Perhaps this collaboration has been fated for the past 20 years and was well worth the wait.
—Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2023
That was there too, but at its heart was a yearning for everything that the novel usually leaves out and that, in darker moments, seemed fated for destruction.
—Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
His Project Cassandra honored the Trojan priestess fated to utter true prophecies but never to be believed, as part of Kelly's efforts to raise alarms about the convergence of drug trafficking and terrorism.
—Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 17 July 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin fatum, literally, what has been spoken, from neuter of fatus, past participle of fari to speak — more at ban entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1601, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of fate was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing fate
Dictionary Entries Near fate
Cite this Entry
“Fate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fate. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
fate
1 of 2 noun1
: a power beyond one's control that is believed to decide what happens
2
: something that happens as though decided by fate
3
: a final result
4
plural capitalized
: the three goddesses in classical mythology who decide the course of human life
Medical Definition
fate
noun
: the expected result of normal development
prospective fate of embryonic cells
More from Merriam-Webster on fate
Nglish: Translation of fate for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of fate for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fate
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