as in possibility
something that can develop or become actual
would like to see a colony on the moon as an actuality and not merely a potentiality
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of potentiality
In a striking parallel to the 1990s, epochal thinking about the potentialities of a high technology society has once again upended politics.
—
Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
Meanwhile, parsing-of-totality depends on advancing sensing techniques to harness atoms’ deeper patterns and potentiality.
—Pravir Malik, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
The goal, in the end, is to expand and enlarge our sense of self and the potentialities within our craft through careful reading, compositional imitation, and rigorous discussion.
—Ocean Vuong
september 6, Literary Hub, 6 Sep. 2022
See All Example Sentences for potentiality
Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
Meanwhile, parsing-of-totality depends on advancing sensing techniques to harness atoms’ deeper patterns and potentiality.
—Pravir Malik, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
The goal, in the end, is to expand and enlarge our sense of self and the potentialities within our craft through careful reading, compositional imitation, and rigorous discussion.
—Ocean Vuong
september 6, Literary Hub, 6 Sep. 2022
See All Example Sentences for potentiality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for potentiality
Noun
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Islamabad is now more likely to consider Delhi’s growing friendliness with the Taliban to harm Pakistan’s interests a real possibility, regardless of Delhi’s actual intentions.—
Happymon Jacob,
Time,
16 Oct. 2025
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But the possibility of a rookie second-rounder helping a hapless franchise to the bottom of the Play-In Tournament is too low stakes.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Joining a Blue Jays rotation that appeared more built for the regular season slog, Bieber held playoff potential.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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The researchers compared both configurations to test the vitamin’s catalytic performance and long-term potential.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Potentiality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/potentiality. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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