"potential" meaning in English

See potential in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /pəˈtɛnʃəl/ Audio: en-us-potential.ogg [US] Forms: potential [positive], [comparative], [superlative]
Head templates: {{adj}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A potential customer, benefit, problem, etc. is one that might happen in the future.
    Sense id: simple-potential-en-adj-Vlws2YDW Categories (other): Attributive modifiers

Noun

IPA: /pəˈtɛnʃəl/ Audio: en-us-potential.ogg [US] Forms: potential [singular], potentials [plural]
Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If x has potential for y, then it might change toward y or cause y.
    Sense id: simple-potential-en-noun-Jn704usC
  2. If something has or shows potential, they will likely be very good in the future.
    Sense id: simple-potential-en-noun-zD~Foxi8
  3. The potential is the difference in voltage between two points on an electrical circuit.
    Sense id: simple-potential-en-noun-XxuzNXRs
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "potential",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "po‧ten‧tial",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Attributive modifiers",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Realistic goals can then be set to prevent potential problems from becoming actual ones."
        },
        {
          "text": "To grow, a business must identify potential customers and their needs."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A potential customer, benefit, problem, etc. is one that might happen in the future."
      ],
      "id": "simple-potential-en-adj-Vlws2YDW",
      "raw_tags": [
        "usually before a noun"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pəˈtɛnʃəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-potential.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "potential"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "potential",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "potentials",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "po‧ten‧tial",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Technology has the potential for improvement as well as for harm."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If x has potential for y, then it might change toward y or cause y."
      ],
      "id": "simple-potential-en-noun-Jn704usC",
      "raw_tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "If something has or shows potential, they will likely be very good in the future."
      ],
      "id": "simple-potential-en-noun-zD~Foxi8",
      "raw_tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "The potential is the difference in voltage between two points on an electrical circuit."
      ],
      "id": "simple-potential-en-noun-XxuzNXRs",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable & uncountable",
        "electronics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pəˈtɛnʃəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-potential.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "potential"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "potential",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "po‧ten‧tial",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Attributive modifiers"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Realistic goals can then be set to prevent potential problems from becoming actual ones."
        },
        {
          "text": "To grow, a business must identify potential customers and their needs."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A potential customer, benefit, problem, etc. is one that might happen in the future."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "usually before a noun"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pəˈtɛnʃəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-potential.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "potential"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "potential",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "potentials",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "po‧ten‧tial",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Technology has the potential for improvement as well as for harm."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If x has potential for y, then it might change toward y or cause y."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something has or shows potential, they will likely be very good in the future."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns",
        "Uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The potential is the difference in voltage between two points on an electrical circuit."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable & uncountable",
        "electronics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pəˈtɛnʃəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-potential.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "potential"
}

Download raw JSONL data for potential meaning in English (1.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-15 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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