as in fortunate
coming or happening by good luck especially unexpectedly
winning the lottery could not have come at a more providential time for the recently laid-off worker
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Recent Examples of providential
Helping to weave all those strands into a single, elegant narrative is an Emory University astrochemist with a providential name: Susanna Widicus Weaver.
—
Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2011
Russia’s longstanding pursuit of a global position beyond its means—its aspiration to be a providential power, with a special mission in the world—has led it, again and again, to autocratic rule.
—WSJ, 4 Nov. 2022
Many a past biographer has observed that Lincoln understood himself as an actor in a providential drama.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
Meacham bids to be the redeemer in chief of the narrative of American exceptionalism: the venerable if now-shopworn story in which the United States has a providential and world-historic role as a nation distinctively dedicated to human liberty.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for providential
Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2011
Russia’s longstanding pursuit of a global position beyond its means—its aspiration to be a providential power, with a special mission in the world—has led it, again and again, to autocratic rule.
—WSJ, 4 Nov. 2022
Many a past biographer has observed that Lincoln understood himself as an actor in a providential drama.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
Meacham bids to be the redeemer in chief of the narrative of American exceptionalism: the venerable if now-shopworn story in which the United States has a providential and world-historic role as a nation distinctively dedicated to human liberty.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for providential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for providential
Adjective
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Kendall Jenner may be able to afford $890 flip-flops, but most of us are not so fortunate.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
7 June 2025
-
While the child and the other rescuer made it out of the water uninjured, Smiley wasn't as fortunate and got caught up in the current.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
When a match goes really well — i.e. when the couple gets engaged, the ballyhooed happy ending of all romances, naturally — a bar cart is rolled out and all the young matchmakers gather around each other and cheer for their good fortune, and for the seeming success of love itself.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 June 2025
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What if starlets like Spears were not happy collaborators in a patriarchal order but scapegoats who had been exploited for profit, pushed to the brink by an insatiable audience, and forced to bear the misogynistic projections of an entire country?—
Dayna Tortorici,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
Now, 40 years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film’s wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan’s closet.—
Ryan P. C. Trimble,
Chicago Tribune,
5 June 2025
-
Before then, a lucky lottery ticket holder in Illinois took home a $344 million jackpot on March 25, while another lucky person hit the Mega Millions jackpot on Jan. 17 for $113 million.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
The new president has promised to be less hawkish than Yoon, and his timing is fortuitous.—
John Delury,
Foreign Affairs,
3 June 2025
-
At the end of a long shift, at the end of a long Friday night, a game in search of a hero and a Florida Panthers season in need of one final, fortuitous bounce converged on the most likely player of them all.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
10 May 2025
Adjective
-
Some others reported that changing autocorrect and keyboard settings temporarily improved Mail functionality, though this could be coincidental more than anything.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
-
This isn't coincidental—up to 35% of entrepreneurs identify as dyslexic, compared to just 10% of the general population.—
Megan Bruneau,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Providential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/providential. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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