potential

Examples

• All

• Large portions of the desert Southwest have the potential for solar energy development.

  Academic text (2011)

• You see the talent and the potential that lives inside people.

• You were the first to see the potential in this.

  Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

• The majority of the class, however, saw the potential for the writing to make a difference.

  Academic text (1999)

• I believe in your spirit and your intelligence and your potential.

  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

• First, the test has the potential to lead to an early diagnosis of cancer.

  Academic text (2011)

• It means living up to your own full potential as a human being.

• The telegraph expanded the potential of the free press, and newspapers flourished as a result.

  Academic text (2011)

• It's believed that those last tiger strongholds have the potential to repopulate larger landscapes.

  Academic text (2011)

• Every student in the class has the potential to excel in their studies.

Synonyms

C

capability

vspotential

473 3.6

Ability to do something or develop a skill

emphasizes future growth and inherent development rather than current skill

C

capacity

vspotential

227 3.5

The ability to do, feel, or understand something

focuses on future development rather than general power or tolerance

P

potentiality

vspotential

4 7.2

A natural ability to develop or become real in the future

is the same meaning but often used more in abstract or philosophical contexts

Compounds

P

potential energy

• Specialized

6 3.9

Power that something has because of its position, not its movement

T

true potential

5 4.1

All the ability a person or thing can reach

P

potential liability

• Jargon

2 6.5

Someone or something that may cause harm in the future

A

action potential

• Specialized

1 5.2

A quick change in electric charge across a cell membrane that carries a signal along nerve or muscle cells

P

potential cure

1 3.8

A treatment that might make a disease go away in the future

P

potential difference

• Specialized

1 4.1

The electric push between two points in a circuit measured in volts

E

electric potential

• Specialized

1 5.1

The energy a small electric charge has at a point in a circuit, measured in volts

E

evoked potential

• Specialized

1 8.4

An electrical signal measured by electrodes that the brain makes after a sound or light

H

high-potential

• Jargon

1 5.1

An employee the company thinks is likely to become a leader

B

bioelectric potential

• Specialized

7.4

An electric charge difference across cells or tissues that helps signals travel

C

cortical potential

• Specialized

9.1

A quick change in electric signals in the brain's outer part measured by a machine

E

elastic potential energy

• Specialized

4.8

Stored power in something when it is stretched or squashed, like a spring

H

high-potential

• Specialized

7.6

Powered by very high electrical voltage

R

resting potential

• Specialized

7.0

The electric charge difference between the inside and outside of a nerve cell when it is not sending a signal

P

potential divider

• UK

7.1

A set of resistors connected one after another that gives a smaller, adjustable voltage from a source

P

potential drop

• Specialized

7.0

The difference in electric voltage between two points in a circuit

P

potential unit

• Specialized

7.9

A measure of electric potential difference between two points in a circuit, like the volt

How Promising

high-potential

• Jargon

1 5.1

promise

283 2.7

potential

638 3.2

possibility

∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology