manifest destiny

noun

often capitalized M&D

: a future event accepted as inevitable

in the mid-19th century expansion to the Pacific was regarded as the Manifest Destiny of the United States

broadly : an ostensibly benevolent or necessary policy of imperialistic expansion

Examples of manifest destiny in a Sentence

They were living in a time when expansion to the Pacific was regarded by many people as the Manifest Destiny of the United States.

Recent Examples on the Web

This is wild and sad, a fairy tale of manifest destiny that evokes in almost equal parts Cormac McCarthy and Charles Portis, in addition to the aforementioned Hoban and Milch. —Philip Martin, arkansasonline.com, 13 July 2024

For others, Zionism is a form of modern-day colonialism or racist manifest destiny — the attempt to justify the seizure of contested land in the name of God. —Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2024

Mars’s rosy future is what beckons now: a new frontier awaiting human colonization, fulfilling our manifest destiny amid the stars. —Michael Saler, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2023

This account, which shapes school curricula, exhibitions, books, and films, aims to shore up Xi’s image as the personification of China’s manifest destiny. —Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Affairs, 29 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above