potential
noun
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Potential can be either good or bad. Studying hard increases the potential for success, but wet roads increase the potential for accidents. But when a person or thing "has potential", we always expect something good from it in the future. As an adjective (as in "potential losses", "potential benefits", etc.), potential usually means simply "possible". In science, however, the adjective has a special meaning: Potential energy is the kind of stored energy that a boulder sitting at the top of a cliff has (the opposite of kinetic energy, which is what it has as it rolls down that cliff).
Examples of potential in a Sentence
Julianna Bragg, CNN Money, 4 June 2026
How to reclaim the lost art of apprenticeship and put in the work that’s needed to reach our highest potential.
—Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Another round of storms will develop Thursday night, bringing the potential for hail, wind and torrential rain.
—Mike Augustyniak, CBS News, 3 June 2026
However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for potential
Cite this Entry
“Potential.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potential. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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potential
1 of 2 adjective
potential
2 of 2 nounMedical Definition
potential
1 of 2 adjective
potential
2 of 2 noun
