possibility
Syllables: pos·si·bil·i·tyUK/ˌpɒs.ɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti//ˌpɑ.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/
possibility noun: the quality of being possible.
Noun
possibility (countable and uncountable, plural possibilities)
- The quality of being possible.
- 'There is little possibility of that happening' 'I'd say there's rather a strongish possibility that it won't.'
- Synonyms:
- possibleness
- A thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
- Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the...2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
- Synonyms:
- contingency
- An option or choice, usually used in context with future events.
- Mycelial lives are so other, their possibilities so strange.2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 76
- Synonyms:
- choice, option, alternative, contingency
- Capability, power or capacity to act.
- VVere Iacke Strawe a liue againe,
And I in as good poſſibility as euer I was,
I would lay a ſurer trumpe,
Ere I would loſe ſo faire a tricke.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act IV
- VVere Iacke Strawe a liue againe,
possibility meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
possibility in Hindi
- quality of being possible
- संभावना sambhāvnā
possibility in Tamil
- இயலக்கூடியது, ஒல்லுவது, நிகழக்கூடியது, சாத்தியம், சாத்தியக்கூறு, இயலுமை
possibility in Marathi
- quality of being possible
- शक्यता śakyatā
possibility in Urdu
- possibility, probability, tolerance, verisimilitude, virtuality
- احتمال ihtimāl
- possibility, probability
- امکان imkān
More languagesFewer languages
- possibility in Bengali
- সম্ভাবনা sômbhabôna
- possibility in Malayalam
- സാധ്യത sādhyata, സാധ്യം sādhyaṁ
- possibility in Kannada
- ಬಹುದಿಕೆ, ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ, ಬಹುದಿಕೆಯುಳ್ಳ, ಆಗಬಹುದಾದದ್ದು
- possibility in Punjabi
- امکان īmkān
- possibility in Gujarati
- શક્યતા śakyatā
- possibility in Odia
- ସମ୍ଭାବନା
- possibility in Sanskrit
- गति gáti
- possibility in Nepali
- सम्भावना
- possibility in Arabic
- اِحْتِمَال iḥtimāl, إِمْكَانِيَّة ʔimkāniyya
- possibility in Malay
- kemungkinan
- possibility in Indonesian
- kemungkinan
- possibility in Persian
- امکان emkân, احتمال ehtemâl
- possibility in Thai
- ความเป็นไปได้ kwaam-bpen-bpai-dâi
- possibility in Vietnamese
- sự có thể, khả năng
Examples of possibility in a sentence
- They were awake to the possibility of a decline in sales.
- In all this universe of possibilities, there is only one feasible option.
- Consider, if you will, the possibility that the sherry glasses were misplaced accidentally.
Synonyms of possibility
Antonyms
Forms of possibility
| plural | possibilities |
|---|
Origin of possibility
From Middle English possibilite, from Middle French possibilité (from Old French possibilite) and directly from Late Latin possibilitās (“possibility”), from Latin possibilis (“possible”); see possible. By surface analysis, possible + -ity.
Words formed from possibility
- logical possibility
- nonpossibility
- possibility of reverter
- possibility theory
- production possibility curve
- unpossibility
Phrases with possibility
Words that rhyme with possibility
- sensibility
- utility
- facility
- ability
- disability
- compatibility
- probability
- fertility
- fragility
- futility
- impossibility
- senility
36 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- virility
- vulnerability
- agility
- capability
- comfortability
- flexibility
- hostility
- improbability
- indomitability
- instability
- juvenility
- nobility
- stability
- accommodability
- affability
- backward compatibility
- backwards compatibility
- bouncebackability
- chewability
- creatability
- debility
- diffability
- ductility
- forward compatibility
- forwards compatibility
- fuckability
- humility
- impressionability
- ineffability
- irascibility
- manageability
- mutility
- tabability
- unassailability
- upward compatibility
- versatility
Questions about possibility
- What does possibility mean?
- Possibility means the quality of being possible.
- What is possibility in Hindi?
- Possibility in Hindi is संभावना (sambhāvnā). See Possibility meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is possibility?
- Possibility is a noun.
- How do you pronounce possibility?
- Possibility is pronounced /ˌpɒs.ɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ (UK).
- What is the plural of possibility?
- The plural of possibility is possibilities.
Words near possibility in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: possibility (page history and authors); possibility (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); احتمال (Urdu) (page history and authors); সম্ভাবনা (Bengali) (page history and authors); possibility (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); امکان (Punjabi) (page history and authors); શક્યતા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); possibility (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); गति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); possibility (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-possibility.ogg.
Cite this entry: “possibility.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/possibility. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.