as in possibility
something that can develop or become actual
would like to see a colony on the moon as an actuality and not merely a potentiality
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Recent Examples of potentiality
In a striking parallel to the 1990s, epochal thinking about the potentialities of a high technology society has once again upended politics.
—
Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
Meanwhile, parsing-of-totality depends on advancing sensing techniques to harness atoms’ deeper patterns and potentiality.
—Pravir Malik, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
If Vietnam damaged the credibility of experts, experts were no more inclined to value the democratic potentialities of the public.
—Daniel Bessner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Apr. 2017
See All Example Sentences for potentiality
Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
Meanwhile, parsing-of-totality depends on advancing sensing techniques to harness atoms’ deeper patterns and potentiality.
—Pravir Malik, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
If Vietnam damaged the credibility of experts, experts were no more inclined to value the democratic potentialities of the public.
—Daniel Bessner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Apr. 2017
See All Example Sentences for potentiality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for potentiality
Noun
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The appearance of The Punisher also seems to open up some possibilities of other character collaborations like Daredevil or Jessica Jones.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
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There are, however, a few possibilities that can be gleaned from the very limited information that has been released to the public.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
14 July 2025
Noun
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Sometimes the products that cause injury, or have the potential to do so, may seem fairly innocent.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 July 2025
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But amid the poverty and limited means, Espinoza saw something more powerful: An area rich in human potential.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Potentiality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/potentiality. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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