manifest destiny

noun

variants often Manifest Destiny

: a future event accepted as inevitable

in the mid-19th century expansion to the Pacific was regarded as the Manifest Destiny of the United States

broadly : an ostensibly benevolent or necessary policy of imperialistic expansion

Examples of manifest destiny in a Sentence

They were living in a time when expansion to the Pacific was regarded by many people as the Manifest Destiny of the United States.

Recent Examples on the Web

Whether the wall can achieve that or not, the project is now driven by a kind of Trumpian manifest destiny. —Nick Miroff, The Atlantic, 17 Mar. 2026

Though the United States was still a toddler on the world stage, abolitionism, the industrial revolution, the concept of manifest destiny and the stirrings of the American Civil War loomed over an increasingly divided nation. —Joe Sills, Forbes.com, 14 Mar. 2026

While the legal system is still catching up to AI’s manifest destiny, there’s reason for optimism; in September, Anthropic settled a lawsuit for $1.5 billion, the first of its kind. —Adam Erace, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025

Taylor Sheridan’s manifest destiny is spreading to network-TV cop shows. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above