- [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.
- He warned about the scam so others could avoid a similar fate.
- Inhabitants of war-torn areas have been abandoned 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 luckluckchance ▪ coincidence ▪ accident ▪ fate ▪ destinyThese are all words for things that happen or the force that causes them to happen.luck the force that causes good or bad things to happen to people:- This ring has always brought me good luck.
- The results could simply be due to chance.
- They met through a series of strange coincidences.
- Their early arrival was just an accident.
- Fate decreed that she would never reach America.
- 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
See fate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee fate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englisha fate worse than death
- (often humorous) a terrible thing that could happen
- At the last minute she was saved from a fate worse than death.
Extra Examples- Getting married seemed a fate worse than death.
- Obeying his parents' wishes for his life seemed a fate worse than death.
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.
Check pronunciation:
fate