fate
noun /feɪt/
/feɪt/
Idioms - [countable] the things, especially bad things, that will happen or have happened to somebody/something
- The fate of the three men is unknown.
- She sat outside, waiting to find out her fate.
- The court will decide our fate/fates.
- Each of the managers suffered the same fate.
- The government had abandoned the refugees to their fate.
- From that moment our fate was sealed (= our future was decided).
Extra Examples- He faces a grim fate if he is sent back to his own country.
- He had no desire to share the fate of his executed comrades.
- He had signed his confession and sealed his own fate.
- He will learn his fate in court tomorrow.
- His brother met an altogether different fate.
- His fate rests in the hands of the judges.
- Instead of just bemoaning your fate, why not do something to change it?
- Jackson deserves a better fate than this.
- Our fate is tied to yours.
- She broke her ankle before the big game, then suffered the same fate a month later.
- She faces an uncertain fate.
- She has taken steps to control her own fate.
- She managed to escape the fate of the other rebels.
- The condemned men were resigned to their fate.
- The convicts awaited their fate in prison.
- The fate of the African wild dog hangs in the balance.
- The jury held the fate of the accused in their hands.
- The ultimate fate of the captured troops is unknown.
- They decided to kill themselves rather than suffer a worse fate at the hands of their enemy.
- They were warned of the dreadful fate that awaited them if ever they returned to their homes.
- They're worried about their political fate.
- This team's fate depends on how it performs today.
- Under-representation is the likely fate of small parties.
- What an unfortunate fate the gods had condemned her to.
- What had he done to deserve such a terrible fate?
- Will it change the fate of the company?
- Worst of all was the fate that befell the captured rebel general.
- the almost inevitable fate awaiting gorillas and tigers
- the rights of a woman to choose the fate of her body
- From the moment the hijackers took over the plane, their fate was sealed.
- Fortunately, Robert was spared this cruel fate.
- He had no idea what fate was in store for him.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- awful
- grim
- horrible
- …
- face
- meet
- suffer
- …
- await somebody/something
- be in store for somebody/something
- lie in store for somebody/something
- …
- leave your fate in somebody’s hands
- place your fate in somebody’s hands
- put your fate in somebody’s hands
- …
- [uncountable] the power that is believed to control everything that happens and that cannot be stopped or changed
- Fate was kind to me that day.
- By a strange twist of fate, Andy and I were on the same plane.
Synonyms luckluck- chance
- coincidence
- accident
- fate
- destiny
- luck the force that causes good or bad things to happen to people:
- This ring has always brought me good luck.
- chance the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand:
- The results could simply be due to chance.
- coincidence the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way:
- They met through a series of strange coincidences.
- accident something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance:
- Their early arrival was just an accident.
- fate the power that is believed to control everything that happens and that cannot be stopped or changed:
- Fate decreed that she would never reach America.
- destiny the power that is believed to control events:
- I believe there’s some force guiding us—call it God, destiny or fate.
- by …luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- It’s no coincidence/accident that…
- pure/sheer luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- to believe in luck/coincidences/fate/destiny
Extra ExamplesTopics Religion and festivalsc1- Anne accepted the cruel hand that fate had dealt her.
- Fate decreed that she would never reach America.
- Fate took a hand in (= influenced ) the outcome of the championship.
- Fate was not smiling upon her today.
- For some reason fate conspired against them and everything they did was problematic.
- He believed that the universe was controlled by the whims of a cruel fate.
- He secretly hoped that fate would intervene and save him having to meet her.
- He was content standing aside, letting fate take its course.
- I have a great deal of trust and I leave everything to fate.
- It seemed a cruel twist of fate that the composer should have died so young.
- Little did she know what fate had in store for her.
- Only weeks later fate struck again, leaving her unable to compete.
- Such coincidences are almost enough to make one believe in fate.
- The new job had come at just the right time for him. Was it the hand of fate?
- the prophet who predicts fate and can see the future
- He suddenly started to rail against fate and all the things that had happened to him.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- cruel
- kind
- believe in
- tempt
- leave something to
- …
- decide something
- decree something
- intervene
- …
- an accident of fate
- a turn of fate
- a twist of fate
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Italian fato or (later) from its source, Latin fatum ‘that which has been spoken’, from fari ‘speak’.
Idioms
a fate worse than death
- (often humorous) a terrible thing that could happen
- At the last minute the hero saves her from a fate worse than death.
Extra Examples- Getting married seemed a fate worse than death.
- Obeying her parents' wishes for her life seemed a fate worse than death.
Wordfinder
- amulet
- charm
- coincidence
- fate
- fortune
- jinx
- luck
- mascot
- superstition
- talisman
tempt fate/providence
- to do something too confidently in a way that might mean that your good luck will come to an end
- She felt it would be tempting fate to try the difficult climb a second time.
- It would be tempting fate to say that we will definitely win the game.