as in to anticipate
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow
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Recent Examples of adumbrate
In between, works by contemporaries complicate superficial ideas about his meteoric genius, and small, delicate drawings teem with an abundance of ideas — paintings never made, thoughts adumbrated then abandoned.
—
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrate
Verb
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The institute also launched a wastewater surveillance project, geared at monitoring and anticipating disease trends in communities.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
26 Oct. 2025
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Here’s an example from early on in their epic duel, as Carreras anticipates Ronald Araujo’s pass into Yamal, and is quick to close him down in frame one.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The news division also laid off about one hundred people earlier this week, though the cuts were foreshadowed months ago, well before Weiss was hired.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
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The film’s most unsettling scenes connect Hans' murder spree with the bloodlust of the German public, foreshadowing the Nazis’ rise to power just a few years later.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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China has agreed to allow the export of chips critical to auto production, averting widespread shutdowns that had been predicted by the industry.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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Due to these supply challenges of the Thanksgiving birds, AFBF predicts turkey prices will be up 40 percent from 2024.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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These opulent volumes prefigure the label’s high jewelry offering.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
10 Oct. 2025
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Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.—
Lula Konner,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Some autoimmune diseases also can remit on their own for reasons that remain unclear, implying that not every patient may require lifelong therapy.—
Jason Liebowitz,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
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This tells us that if P being true implies Q being true, then Q being false implies P also must be false.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Aurora police pursuits, injuries 2019-2025* 97 Chamberlain, who declined to speak with The Post for this story, has heralded the department’s new approach to pursuits as an important tool for curbing crime.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
27 Oct. 2025
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The duo has a fresh start on a new show, heralding in a new era while still honoring the past.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Since 2021, these companies have collaborated on research and development concerning sub-terahertz devices, foreseeing the dawn of the 6G era.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Oct. 2025
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Those with clout in various spheres coalesced into one clubby circle, and fell prey to a groupthink that foresaw riches for everyone, without consequences.—
Evan Hughes,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adumbrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrate. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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