flash-forward

noun

flash-for·​ward ˈflash-ˈfȯr-wərd 

: interruption of chronological sequence (as in a film or novel) by interjection of events of future occurrence

also : an instance of flash-forward

flash forward intransitive verb

Examples of flash-forward in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s thanks in one part to a gripping flash-forward narrative structure now so common it could be considered a cliché, and in another to Glenn Close’s indelible performance as ruthless litigator Patty Hewes. —Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026

The show, a sort of elegy for Gen X, opens with a flash-forward to July 16, 1999, the final hours of Carolyn and John. —Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026

After a flash-forward to close to a year later, the show ends with Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max (Sadie Sink) finishing one last Dungeons and Dragons campaign after their high school graduation. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026

And didn’t last season close with a flash-forward to a future without him? —Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flash-forward

• henceforward
• straightforward
• thenceforward
• carryforward
• equatorward
• forward
• shoreward