fortune teller

noun

variants or less commonly fortune-teller

ˈfȯr-chən-ˌte-lər 

plural fortune tellers also fortune-tellers

: someone or something with the supposed ability to foretell future events and especially the details of a person's future

For thousands of years, people have gone to fortune tellers because they wanted to know whom they would marry or whether they were going to be rich or famous.

—Muse

Some of the fortune-tellers he encounters are ludicrously off the mark; others are uncannily accurate.

—Michael Upchurch

You do not have to be a fortune teller to realize that sneezes, sniffles, plugged up noses and red eyes will be making their appearance in most of our houses within the next two months.

—Glenn Haege

By the early 1900s it was possible to get a "psychic reading" from a mechanical fortune teller at the local penny arcade.

—Ralph and Terry Koval

sometimes, specifically : a child's toy that consists of paper folded into four pyramid-shaped parts which are manipulated by the fingers to open and close with each part having a flap that can be unfolded to reveal an answer to one's question about the future : cootie catcher

Some of the most commonly made folk toys are made of paper: fortune tellers (also known as cootie catchers), paper airplanes, spitballs shot through straws …

—Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun

Your child may choose to decorate the fortune teller … with stickers or drawings, or to color the outside squares instead of writing the name of a color.

—Sally Worsham

fortune-telling

ˈfȯr-chən-ˌte-liŋ 

noun or adjective

Synonyms of fortune teller

• diviner
• prophet
• forecaster

Examples of fortune teller in a Sentence

the carnival's fortune-teller should have predicted that I'd pass right by her

Recent Examples on the Web

Manobal and her mother went to see a fortune teller after her audition to join YG Entertainment, the famed South Korean enterprise, which doubles as a talent agency and record label. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 23 June 2026

Lisa and her mom visited a fortune teller after her audition for the South Korean media agency YG Entertainment. — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 23 June 2026

The opening date was determined by Pham’s family thây bói (psychic or fortune teller), and the duo plans to stick to it. — Kate Kassin, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 June 2026

The film follows Sakol, who – after a fortune teller warns him his elderly mother may die soon – gathers the family for a ritual journey across Thailand’s temple landscape. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 May 2026

The first teaser for the film lays out that mission, with Gail speaking with a fortune teller who knows way too well the specifics of Gail’s situation and sets her on her path forward. — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 24 Apr. 2026

Toombs is best known today as the face of fortune teller Madame Leota inside the crystal ball in the Haunted Mansion’s seance circle at Disneyland. — Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 23 Apr. 2026

And unlike carnival fortune teller, this is a celebrated profession, to be placed on billboards that tower over the city. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026

The evening newscast turned into a variety show, complete with fortune tellers and a game show-style announcer. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fortune teller

• beller
• cellar
• dweller
• eller
• feller
• meller
• sellar
• seller
• sheller
• speller
• stellar
• bestseller

Kids Definition

fortune-teller

noun

for·​tune-tell·​er

-ˌtel-ər

: a person who claims to foretell future events

fortune-telling

-ˌtel-iŋ

noun or adjective