divine 1 of 3

1
2
as in heavenly
of, relating to, or being God for these divine gifts let us be truly thankful

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

divine

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noun

divine

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word divine different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of divine are anticipate, foreknow, and foresee. While all these words mean "to know beforehand," divine adds to foresee the suggestion of exceptional wisdom or discernment.

was able to divine Europe's rapid recovery from the war

When could anticipate be used to replace divine?

Although the words anticipate and divine have much in common, anticipate implies taking action about or responding emotionally to something before it happens.

the waiter anticipated our every need

When might foreknow be a better fit than divine?

The synonyms foreknow and divine are sometimes interchangeable, but foreknow usually implies supernatural assistance, as through revelation.

if only we could foreknow our own destinies

When can foresee be used instead of divine?

While the synonyms foresee and divine are close in meaning, foresee implies nothing about how the knowledge is derived and may apply to ordinary reasoning and experience.

economists should have foreseen the recession

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of divine
Adjective
Big movies with big scores often draw on the Western canon, invoking the divine nature of classical music into scenes where a spaceship launches from Earth or anywhere from two to 200 guys fight with swords. Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2025 There is plenty of basis for the interpretation that mandalas are symbols of the divine cosmos, designed to teach initiates about the real thing, unless mandalas are vessels in which the divine resides, nothing symbolic about them. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025
Noun
Paintings such as Dark Pasture Encounter: Conduit (2023) and Night Prey, or (The Prey of the Terrible shall be Delivered), 2024, evoke the ecstatic, almost erotic experience of the divine. Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2024 The resulting music is impressively precise and introspective, grappling with earthly concerns with poise, while also channeling the unexpected, iridescent revelations and comforts of the divine. Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024
Verb
The desire to know more about the future may be almost universally human, but the ability to divine what lies ahead was certainly not universal, at least in antiquity. Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2024 Much effort is also devoted to divining the capabilities of adversaries from published doctrines. Jason Lyall, Foreign Affairs, 22 July 2022 See all Example Sentences for divine 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for divine
Adjective
  • Bill has a great bone structure and wonderful expressive eyes, and is such a great actor.
    William Earl, Variety, 2 Jan. 2025
  • Over 900 customers left five-star reviews and affirmed the impressive stats on picture and sound, calling both superb and wonderful.
    Megan Schaltegger, People.com, 1 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Toby Keith and Kristofferson climbed that heavenly stair.
    Bob Pisani, CNBC, 31 Dec. 2024
  • The experience left Liang convinced that the movement was preying on people like his mother, who gave willingly in hopes of receiving a heavenly reward.
    Michael Rothfeld, New York Times, 29 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Today, dozens of parishes are in clusters that share priests and administrative resources to deal with a decline that has become more pressing over the last decade, reporter Sophie Carson found in an analysis. 17.
    Lainey Seyler, Journal Sentinel, 30 Dec. 2024
  • Its 63 squares supposedly represent nine seven-year periods in a person’s life—a nod to the esoteric philosophy of Marsilio Ficino, a philosopher and Catholic priest of the early Italian Renaissance who believed that people experienced some change in their body or mind, or both, every seven years.
    John Last, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Stage 5: Leading In this rare air, organizations will anticipate future AI developments and their potential impacts.
    Chris Stegh, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
  • How the Public Health Community Prepares for Pandemics Public healthcare experts have been anticipating and planning for a pandemic like COVID-19 for years.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Every business has setbacks, project cancellations, and external events that can sap the energy from your team members and override the benefits of even the best people management efforts, including personal recognition and communication, and excellent team collaboration.
    Martin Zwilling, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Now is an excellent moment to be brave and explore new projects, people and plans.
    Kyle Thomas, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The newfangled tiny church of the holy recycler that sets up shop in a strip mall in Cambridge is the same — in the eyes of the law — as the behemoth religions of Judaism, and Christianity.
    Wendy Murphy, Boston Herald, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Thieving, hostage taking monkeys are as common as pilgrims in Vrindavan, a holy Hindu town by the Yamuna river in northern India.
    Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 5 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Society Fear and Trembling in Las Vegas Tara Isabella Burton A week with the street preachers of Sin City.
    hazlitt.net, hazlitt.net, 4 Jan. 2025
  • Falwell, among other notable preachers, criticized Carter's interview with Playboy as an example of voicing impure thoughts.
    Liam Adams, The Tennessean, 29 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Correspondent Martha Teichner accompanied Blinken overseas to discuss the Biden administration foreign policy report card, and what Blinken foresees as a new administration takes over.
    David Morgan, CBS News, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Their comprehensive expertise enabled them to foresee challenges, improvise solutions and harmonize the diverse elements of a structure into cohesive, enduring masterpieces.
    Francesco Iorio, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near divine

Cite this Entry

“Divine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/divine. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

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