potentiality

noun

po·​ten·​ti·​al·​i·​ty pə-ˌten(t)-shē-ˈa-lə-tē 

plural potentialities

1

: the ability to develop or come into existence

2

: potential sense 1

Synonyms

• capability
• eventuality
• possibility
• potential
• prospect

Examples of potentiality in a Sentence

would like to see a colony on the moon as an actuality and not merely a potentiality

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for potentiality

• bisexuality
• collegiality
• conditionality
• congeniality
• conventionality
• conviviality
• dimensionality
• directionality
• emotionality
• essentiality
• eventuality
• grammaticality

Kids Definition

potentiality

noun

po·​ten·​ti·​al·​i·​ty pə-ˌten-chē-ˈal-ət-ē 

plural potentialities

1

: the ability to develop or to come into existence

2

: potential entry 2 sense 1a