blessing

noun

bless·​ing ˈble-siŋ 

1

a

: the act or words of one that blesses

say the blessing over the wine

a priestly blessing

b

: approval, encouragement

asked her parents for their blessing before he proposed

2

: a thing conducive to happiness or welfare

My daughter is a blessing to me in my old age.

Their absence turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Count your blessings.

3

: grace (see grace entry 1 sense 5) said at a meal

said the blessing before dinner

Synonyms

• benediction
• benison

Examples of blessing in a Sentence

Presumably he was acting with the government's blessing.

They got married without their parents' blessing.

We asked the Lord's blessing on us and on our project.

He said a blessing before the meal.

Recent Examples on the Web

If there's a ripple effect because of that, then that's a blessing. —F. Amanda Tugade, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025

Both men have the ambition to redefine how the modern world works—and both are jockeying for President Donald Trump’s blessing to accelerate their plans. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2025

That’s on a separate track from the review of the merger review, which needs the FCC’s blessing to approve the transfer of broadcast licenses. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025

The company will also need city council’s blessing to rezone the property from two-family to high-density multi-family use. —Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see bless

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing blessing

• mixed blessing
• second blessing

Rhymes for blessing

• dressing
• guessing
• messing
• pressing
• stressing
• accessing
• addressing
• assessing
• caressing
• compressing
• confessing
• depressing

Kids Definition

blessing

noun

bless·​ing

ˈbles-iŋ

1

: the act or words of one that blesses

2

: approval

gave my blessing to the plan

3

: something that makes one happy or content

4

: grace said at a meal