fortune

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noun for·tune \ ˈfȯr-chən \

Definition of fortune

1 often capitalized :a hypothetical force or personified power that unpredictably determines events and issues favorably or unfavorably

a country favored by fortune

2 obsolete :accident, incident

3 a :prosperity attained partly through luck :success

fortune attended the general's campaign

b :luck 1

c fortunes plural :the turns and courses of luck accompanying one's progress (as through life)

her fortunes varied but she never gave up

4 :destiny, fate

can tell your fortune

; also :a prediction of fortune

5 a :riches, wealth

a man of fortune

b :a store of material possessions

the family fortune

c :a very large sum of money

spent a fortune redecorating

See fortune defined for English-language learners

See fortune defined for kids

Examples of fortune in a Sentence

He hoped to achieve fame and fortune.
They had the good fortune to escape injury when their car crashed.
The book follows the fortunes of two families through the years.

Recent Examples of fortune from the Web

A change in quarterback led to a change in fortunes Friday night for the Male Bulldogs, who ran away in the second half to defeat the Ballard Bruin, 35-14.

— nate bryan, The Courier-Journal, "Dennis, Vestal carry Male over Ballard with big night," 25 Aug. 2017
A return to the realm of eight-man football for this first time this century proved to be the right call and then some for the fortunes of Flintridge Prep football.

— grant gordon, Glendale News-Press, "Weekly Football Previews: Crescenta Valley kicks off 2017 area football season in Florida," 23 Aug. 2017
There's no doubt in Vogel's mind that the 5-foot-11 Davis, a transfer from Bureau Valley, has changed the outlook on Naperville North's fortunes for this season.

— blake baumgartner, Naperville Sun, "Naperville North's newest star will be Bureau Valley transfer Drake Davis," 19 Aug. 2017
Our cause of infertility was not diagnosed, which, in time, became a diagnosis in itself, written like a Chinese fortune cookie across all our charts and folders: infertility, female factor, etiology unknown.

— joanna petrone, Longreads, "Pregnant, then Ruptured," 18 Aug. 2017
And yet, that only accounts for 5 percent of his fortune. Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Monday show that Gates donated 64 million Microsoft shares—valued at $4.6 billion—in early June to an undisclosed recipient.

— sarah rense, Esquire, "Bill Gates Just Gave Away $4.6 Billion, His Biggest Donation Since 2000," 15 Aug. 2017
A spectacular aggregation of sharks brings good fortune to Indonesian fisherman—and attracts ecotourism dollars that may be the key to their continued survival.

— pete oxford and sophie stafford, Discover Magazine, "The Good Luck Sharks of Indonesia," 26 July 2017
Determining your fortune based on the interaction between the sun, the stars and the planets is what Chinese have been doing for hundreds of years.

— amy qin, The Seattle Times, "When young Chinese ask your sign, they don’t mean dragon or rat," 22 July 2017
The fortunes of extremist candidates have faltered since the populist surge that put Donald Trump into the White House.

— The Economist, "The power of populists," 20 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fortune.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of fortune

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin fortuna; akin to Latin fort-, fors chance, luck, and perhaps to ferre to carry — more at bear

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First Known Use: 14th century

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fortune Synonyms

Synonyms

future

Antonyms

past

Related Words

circumstance, destiny, doom, fate, hap, kismet, lot, portion; futurities, outlook, prospect

Near Antonyms

present

fortune

verb

Definition of fortune

fortuned; fortuning

transitive verb

1 obsolete :to give good or bad fortune to

2 archaic :to endow with a fortune

intransitive verb

archaic :happen, chance

Origin and Etymology of fortune

see ¹fortune

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

FORTUNE Defined for English Language Learners

fortune

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noun

Definition of fortune for English Language Learners

: a very large amount of money
: a great amount of money or possessions
: something that happens by chance

FORTUNE Defined for Kids

fortune

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noun for·tune \ ˈfȯr-chən \

Definition of fortune for Students

1 :a large sum of money

2 :what happens to a person :good or bad luck

3 :what is to happen to someone in the future

I had my fortune told.

4 :wealth 1 They are a family of great fortune.

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fortune

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FORTUNE Defined for English Language Learners

fortune

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fortune

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