potentially

English

Etymology

From potential +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adverb

potentially (comparative more potentially, superlative most potentially)

1. In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way.
   • 2013 September-October, Michael Sivak, “Will AC Put a Chill on the Global Energy Supply?”, in American Scientist:

     Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent, with the consequences of climate change potentially accelerating the demand.

   • 2025 May 2, Elisabeth Buchwald and Ramishah Maruf, “A massive tariff on millions of Americans’ purchases just went into effect — cue the chaos”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Its impending end has rung alarm bells across social media, with a baseline tariff as high as 145% depending on the carrier set to take effect on Chinese imports, potentially more than doubling the cost for all those cheap products deal-hungry Americans scooped up.

2. (obsolete) Powerfully, strongly.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, for his life, point out one single peaceful influence, which within the last sixty years has operated more potentially upon the whole broad world, taken in one aggregate, than the high and mighty business of whaling.

Derived terms

• potentially hazardous object

Translations

in a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way

• Catalan: potencialment (ca)
• Dutch: potentieel (nl)
• French: potentiellement (fr)
• Georgian: პოტენციურად (ṗoṭenciurad)
• Greek: ενδεχομένως (el) (endechoménos)
• Italian: potenzialmente (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: potensielt

• Polish: potencjalnie (pl)
• Portuguese: potencialmente (pt)
• Spanish: potencialmente (es)