destiny

/'destini/
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destiny

A person contemplates their destiny under a starry sky.

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • The predetermined course of events: The idea that events are fixed in advance and cannot be changed, often thought of as a power or agency that controls what happens in the future.
    • The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future: What someone or something is destined to be or do; one's ultimate lot or fortune in life.
Examples
  • Noun:
    • She believed it was her destiny to become a great leader. (She felt it was predetermined that she would become a great leader.)
    • The two friends felt their meeting was more than coincidence; it was destiny. (They felt their meeting was a fated event.)
    • He accepted his destiny with quiet resignation. (He accepted the future that was meant for him without complaint.)
Advanced Usage
  • "A twist of destiny": An unexpected and often significant turn of events that seems fated.
    • A twist of destiny brought the long-lost siblings together. (An unforeseen fated event caused them to meet.)
  • "To be in the hands of destiny": To be subject to the uncontrollable forces of fate.
    • With the final decision made, the outcome was now in the hands of destiny. (The result was now beyond anyone's control, left to fate.)
  • "To fulfill one's destiny": To achieve or live out the future one was meant to have.
    • The artist felt she had finally fulfilled her destiny with her latest masterpiece. (She felt she had achieved what she was always meant to.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Destined (adj): Having a future that has been decided or predetermined.
    • He seemed destined for greatness from a young age.
  • Destine (verb): To intend or choose for a particular purpose or fate (often used in passive voice).
    • The funds were destined for charitable work.
  • Predestination (n): The doctrine that all events have been willed by God, or the action of God in ordaining future events.
Synonyms
  • Fate: The development of events beyond a person's control, often with a sense of inevitability and finality.
  • Fortune: Chance or luck as an external force affecting human affairs; also, the good or bad things that happen to someone.
  • Lot: A person's luck, fate, or condition in life.
  • Providence: The protective care of God or nature as a spiritual power; often implies benevolent guidance.
Related Phrases
  • "Seal someone's destiny": To decisively determine the future course of events for someone.
    • That one mistake sealed his destiny. (That mistake fixed his future irrevocably.)
  • "A date with destiny": An upcoming event or moment that is expected to be of crucial, fated importance.
    • The championship game was their date with destiny. (The game was the crucial, fated moment they had been moving toward.)
Related Idioms
  • "Man of destiny": A person believed to be destined to achieve great things or change the course of history.
    • Many saw the young general as a man of destiny.
  • "Tempt fate/destiny": To act in a way that risks causing something bad to happen, as if challenging fate.
    • Driving that fast on icy roads is tempting destiny.
destiny

A person contemplates their destiny under a starry sky.

Noun
  1. your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
    • whatever my fortune may be
    • deserved a better fate
    • has a happy lot
    • the luck of the Irish
    • a victim of circumstances
    • success that was her portion
  2. the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman)
    • we are helpless in the face of destiny
  3. an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future