augury

play

noun au·gu·ry \ˈȯ-gyə-rē, -gə-\

Definition of augury

plural

auguries

1 : divination from auspices (see auspice 3) or omens Ancient augury involved the interpretation of the flight patterns of birds.; also : an instance of this
2 : omen, portent “ … the best augury of a man's success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world.” — George Eliot

See augury defined for kids

Examples of augury in a Sentence

a yearbook augury that of all the graduates, he would be the most likely to succeed
some people believe that a broken mirror is an augury of seven years' bad luck

Recent Examples of augury from the Web

Set in 2019, the play possesses the unsettling chill of a plausible augury.

— The New Yorker, "Building the Wall," 5 June 2017
There were auguries on Wednesday when an email to Mr. Gove from his wife, Sarah Vine, a journalist, was leaked.

— steven erlanger and stephen castle, New York Times, "Johnson Says He Won’t Run for Prime Minister," 30 June 2016
First sale of the day,’’ said Guna brightly; in India, a day’s first sale is often taken as a bright augury.

— guy trebay, Condé Nast Traveler, "Finding Peace (and Quiet) in India's Tamil Nadu," 26 Feb. 2016
The sufferings of children are probably a damned good augury for our problems as a culture.

— tom chiarella, Esquire, "The Devils You Can Care For," 18 July 2008

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'augury.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.