- the future destined for a person or thing; fate; fortune; lot
- the predetermined or inevitable course of events
- the ultimate power or agency that predetermines the course of events
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
des•ti•ny /ˈdɛstəni/USA pronunciation
n., pl. -nies.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [count;
often singular] something that is to happen or that has happened;
one's future or fortune:Her destiny was to be a surgeon. - the course of events thought of as being unavoidable, impossible to resist, and decided in advance;
fate:[uncountable]It's pure destiny that we met!
des•ti•ny
(des′tə nē),USA pronunciation n., pl. -nies.
- something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing;
lot or fortune. - the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.
- the power or agency that determines the course of events.
- Mythology(cap.) this power personified or represented as a goddess.
- Mythology the Destinies, the Fates.
- Latin dēstināta, feminine past participle of dēstināre. See destine, -ee
- Old French (noun, nominal use of past participle of destiner)
- Middle English destinee 1275–1325
- 1. fate, karma, kismet. 2. future. See fate.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
destiny /ˈdɛstɪnɪ/ n ( pl -nies)
'destiny' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Edgar
- Everyman
- fate
- fortune
- karma
- kismet
- Knowles
- Lachesis
- lot
- mistress
- Niebuhr
- portion
- religion
- shape
- Stoic
- weird
- yourself
- dole
- doom
- eudemon
- fatality
- fatally
- fateful
- foredoom
- genius
- ineluctable
- Last Things
- Manifest Destiny
- Man of Destiny
- Moira
- ordinance
- Parca
- predestination
- speculation
- star