What does "fate" mean?
The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
Fate
/feɪt/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
- Grammar: fate is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: destiny, lot, fortune, portion.
- Useful contrasts: beginning, chance, choice.
- Usage evidence: It is no use quarreling with fate.
How to use "fate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fate" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "destiny" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "fate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events. countable, uncountable
"Captain Edward Carlisle[…]felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,[…]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard."
- 2 an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future wordnet
- 3 The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause. countable, uncountable
- 4 the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events wordnet
- 5 An event or a situation which is inevitable in the fullness of time. countable, uncountable
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you) wordnet
- 7 Destiny; often with a connotation of death, ruin, misfortune, etc. countable, uncountable
"Accept your fate."
- 8 Alternative letter-case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings). alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 9 The products of a chemical reaction in their final form in the biosphere. countable, uncountable
"It’s important to research chemical fate because chemical fate is the best tool we have for understanding and managing human health risks or environmental damage caused by chemical release."
- 10 The mature endpoint of a region, group of cells or individual cell in an embryo, including all changes leading to that mature endpoint countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable. transitive
"The oracle's prediction fated Oedipus to kill his father; not all his striving could change what would occur."
- 2 decree or designate beforehand wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 Any one of the Fates.
- 2 A personification of fate (the cause that predetermines events).
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It is no use quarreling with fate."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fate"?
Common synonyms include: destiny, lot, fortune, portion, predestination, a better place.
How do you use "fate" in a sentence?
It is no use quarreling with fate.
How do you pronounce "fate"?
Pronounced /feɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English fate, from Latin fāta (“prediction”), plural of fātum, from fātus (“spoken”), from for (“to speak”). In this sense, displaced native Old English wyrd, whence Modern English weird.