Divine
adjective / verb /dɪˈvaɪn/ — Of or like a god — and informally, something so excellent it seems beyond mere human making.
Definition
Relating to God or a god; devoted to God; having the nature of a god; (informal) wonderful, delightful; (as verb) to discover by intuition or guesswork.
Beyond the definition
Divine stretches across the reverential and the colloquial — 'this pasta is divine' and 'the divine nature of the soul' are both English. The word has been stretched by admiration into secular use while retaining its theological weight in formal contexts.
Origin & history
From Latin divinus — of a god (from divus: divine, a god). The adjective of the divine being — what belongs to or resembles the gods.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
There was something divine in the timing — too exact to be accidental, too precise to be planned.
She found the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins divine in both senses — sacred and delightful.
The divine and the sublime share an edge: both are experiences that exceed the human scale.
How to use it
Follow this entry’s examples for grammatical form and sentence placement.
Choose “Divine” when the meaning fits your context: Relating to God or a god; devoted to God; having the nature of a god; (informal) wonderful, delightful; (as verb) to discover by intuition or guesswork.
Synonyms
godly, holy, sacred, heavenly, transcendent
Antonyms
mortal, human, earthly
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Reverent Forest Entry
An adult stands at the edge of a deep, ancient forest, holding a glowing talisman to light their way.
The magical, glowing talisman and the reverent entry into the ancient forest evoke the divine. The light seems to have a supernatural quality, suggesting the forest is a space dedicated to a power beyond the natural, mundane world.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Divine" mean?
Divine is adjective / verb meaning: Of or like a god — and informally, something so excellent it seems beyond mere human making.. Relating to God or a god; devoted to God; having the nature of a god; (informal) wonderful, delightful; (as verb) to discover by intuition or guesswork.
Where does the word "Divine" come from?
From Latin divinus — of a god (from divus: divine, a god). The adjective of the divine being — what belongs to or resembles the gods.