as in to predict
formal + literary
to be a sign or warning that something usually bad or unpleasant is going to happen
The distant thunder portended a storm. If you're superstitious, a black cat portends trouble.
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Examples of portend in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
The declining number of Black male Democratic voters, like the Party’s diminishing appeal to Latino and working-class white voters, may portend an ongoing realignment.
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Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024
Previously, the chair of Evercore ISI and head of the firm’s economic research team had been looking for real gross domestic product to slip by 2% in the fourth quarter, something that could have portended a broader contraction.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2024
The company also took a nearly $6 billion write-down on the value of its cable networks, which portends further contraction.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2024
But twenty-four hours later, after investors assessed that the half-point cut probably didn’t portend the start of a recession, major indexes rallied to close at record highs.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend 
Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024
Previously, the chair of Evercore ISI and head of the firm’s economic research team had been looking for real gross domestic product to slip by 2% in the fourth quarter, something that could have portended a broader contraction.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2024
The company also took a nearly $6 billion write-down on the value of its cable networks, which portends further contraction.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2024
But twenty-four hours later, after investors assessed that the half-point cut probably didn’t portend the start of a recession, major indexes rallied to close at record highs.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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If Trump loses, Robinson predicts unrest on the right.Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 3 Nov. 2024
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The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll’s results came as a complete surprise to political observers, as no serious analyst has predicted that the Democratic nominee will defeat Trump in the state.Dan Mangan, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
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At least the studio is promising an awards campaign.Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Nov. 2024
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Phoenix is the fourth stop on the tour, which promises not only holiday favorites but a handful of hits that don't have anything to do with Christmas.Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 1 Nov. 2024
Verb
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All of this may presage the future—the new Lambo lineup is now plug-in hybrid, and the fully electric Lanzador grand tourer will allegedly arrive in 2028.Brett Berk, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2024
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But because the Arizona call presaged Trump’s defeat, Fox was scolded and second-guessed by many of its own viewers, including the sitting president.Brian Stelter, CNN, 16 Oct. 2024
Verb
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However, today most young people rarely call each other.Andrea Wigfield, CNN, 14 Feb. 2023
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Their children’s schoolmates call the sisters the Puffling Queens.Cheryl Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Confidence can foretell consumer spending, which makes up 70% of the economy.Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 27 Oct. 2024
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That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Despite the difficulty, in some cases the stakes are so high—as with North Korea and its nuclear weapons—that armies will have no choice but to take the fight to what is often a vast, foreboding underworld.Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 27 June 2023
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There are foreboding close-ups on clock faces and their fast-changing digits.Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 23 June 2023
Verb
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In the Peach State contests pitting Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue respectively against Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the polls held a week before Election Day augured that both GOP candidates would win comfortably, in a twofer securing the party’s control of the upper chamber.Shawn Tully, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2024
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Harris’s move comes amid signs inflation is finally cooling, after reaching a 41-year high during her vice presidency, auguring a possible interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve before the election.W. James Antle III, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 16 Aug. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near portend
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
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