1. countable noun [usually singular, usually with poss]
A person's destiny is everything that happens to them during their life, including what will happen in the future, especially when it is considered to be controlled by someone or something else.
We are masters of our own destiny.
It is my destiny one day to be king.
Synonyms: fate, fortune, lot, portion More Synonyms of destiny
2. uncountable noun
Destiny is the force which some people believe controls the things that happen to you in your life.
Is it destiny that brings people together, or is it accident?
Synonyms: fortune, stars, chance, karma More Synonyms of destiny
destiny in British English
(ˈdɛstɪnɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-nies
1.
the future destined for a person or thing; fate; fortune; lot
2.
the predetermined or inevitable course of events
3.
the ultimate power or agency that predetermines the course of events
Word origin
C14: from Old French destinee, from destiner to destine
Destiny in British English
(ˈdɛstɪnɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-nies
the power that predetermines events, personified as a goddess
destiny in American English
(ˈdɛstəni)
nounWord forms: pluralˈdestinies
1.
the seemingly inevitable or necessary succession of events
2.
what will necessarily happen to any person or thing; (one's) fate
3.
that which determines events
said of either a supernatural agency or necessity
SIMILAR WORDS: fate
Word origin
ME destine < OFr destinee, fem. pp. of destiner: see destine
Examples of 'destiny' in a sentence
destiny
He crossed continents for the destiny of our people and humanity.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
It might be that the price of controlling our destiny is one worth paying.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
A greetings card delivered in a very unusual way may identify your destiny partner.
The Sun (2016)
How you see and define life determines your destiny.
Christianity Today (2000)
Your destiny or anything that is on your mind.
The Sun (2009)
His ancestry and his personal qualities gave him a sense of manifest personal destiny.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This object consists essentially in establishing human destinies in conformity with reason and justice.
Henry, John F The Making of Neoclassical Economics (1990)
Your destiny partner races into your life when you go to watch horses jump.
The Sun (2006)
Europe did not possess a manifest destiny to transform the politics of the rest of the world.
Jonathan Wright Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State (2006)
Our human destiny is not always as consequential or beautiful.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Your destiny partner has a voice that you recognise.
The Sun (2013)
Human destiny will be what we make of it.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It is good you can see beyond surface charm and recognise your destiny partner.
The Sun (2009)
But that is destiny in life.
The Sun (2011)
You control your future, your destiny.
Pete Cohen and Sten Cummins with Jennai Cox HABIT BUSTING: A 10-step plan that will change your life (2002)
They show it was possible to reject one 's destiny of breeding in the shires.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They should see it as their future, their destiny.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It's strange when you look back and wonder about life and destiny.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Is that the end for what was once thought to be humanity's manifest destiny?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
A person is a destiny.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It's very good news that genes are almost certainly not the cause, as your distress is not an inevitable destiny.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Begin to get rather more comfortable, though I cannot as yet reflect with any comfort on my future destiny.
Lesley Adkins EMPIRES OF THE PLAIN: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon (2003)
EUROPE is a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure.
The Sun (2016)
Quotations
destiny: a tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failureAmbrose BierceThe Devil's Dictionary
Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hourOvidThe Art of Love
Thy lot or portion of life is seeking after thee; therefore be at rest from seeking after itAli Ibn-Abi-Talib
What must be, must be
In other languages
destiny
British English: destiny /ˈdɛstɪnɪ/ NOUN
A person's destiny is everything that happens to them during their life, including what will happen in the future.
Do we control our own destiny?
American English: destiny
Arabic: قَدَر
Brazilian Portuguese: destino
Chinese: 命运
Croatian: sudbina
Czech: osud
Danish: skæbne
Dutch: noodlot
European Spanish: destino hado
Finnish: kohtalo
French: destin
German: Schicksal
Greek: πεπρωμένο
Italian: destino
Japanese: 運命
Korean: 운명
Norwegian: skjebne
Polish: przeznaczenie
European Portuguese: destino
Romanian: destin
Russian: судьба
Latin American Spanish: destino sino
Swedish: öde
Thai: ชะตากรรม
Turkish: kader
Ukrainian: доля
Vietnamese: vận mệnh
Chinese translation of 'destiny'
destiny
(ˈdɛstɪnɪ)
n
(c) (= future) 命运(運) (mìngyùn)
(u) (= fate) 缘(緣)分 (yuánfèn)
1 (noun)
Definition
the future destined for a person or thing
We are masters of our own destiny.
Synonyms
fate
You cannot choose your fate.
fortune
She kept up with the fortunes of the family.
lot
He's always accepted his lot in life.
portion
doom
It was their doom to never be successful in business.
nemesis
divine decree
2 (noun)
Definition
the power that predetermines the course of events
Is it Destiny or accident that brings people together?
Synonyms
fortune
He is certainly being smiled on by fortune.
stars
chance
I met him quite by chance.
karma
providence
I regard his death as an act of providence.
kismet
predestination
Her belief in predestination absolved her from personal responsibility.
divine will
Quotations
destiny: a tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure [Ambrose Bierce – The Devil's Dictionary]Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour [Ovid – The Art of Love]Thy lot or portion of life is seeking after thee; therefore be at rest from seeking after it [Ali Ibn-Abi-Talib]
proverb
What must be, must be
Additional synonyms
in the sense of chance
Definition
the unknown and unpredictable element that causes something to happen in one way rather than another
I met him quite by chance.
Synonyms
accident,
fortune,
luck,
fate,
casualty,
destiny,
coincidence,
misfortune,
providence,
fortuity
in the sense of doom
It was their doom to never be successful in business.