foreordained

adjective

fore·​or·​dained ˌfȯr-ȯr-ˈdānd How to pronounce foreordained (audio)
: destined or ordained in advance
a foreordained outcome
This device is commonplace, almost foreordained, in tales of doomed heroes …John Crowley

Examples of foreordained in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The film is a tragedy in which everything comes out right: Coppola builds his protagonist’s absurd overreach into a foreordained happy ending, and the movie itself is a happy outcome from the very start. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2024 Yet even now, Deng’s warning holds: an Asian century is neither inevitable nor foreordained. Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2020 Her foray into television, which started in 2017, was not exactly foreordained. Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 14 May 2024 With all of those movements, when the central issue was really crystallized as a choice between what is clearly right and just, and what is clearly unjust and wrong and deadly and dangerous, then the outcome becomes foreordained. Cara Buckley, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024 As Robinson notes, the story had to go this way because Jacob has a foreordained task in becoming one of the patriarchs of Israel. James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 For all the talk of Senate traditions, the outcome seems pretty foreordained if the Democrats win a majority and the intractable McConnell continues as GOP leader. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Aug. 2020 And that success is far from foreordained. Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 Aug. 2022 Political forecasters said a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in November’s congressional election looked almost foreordained. Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foreordained.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foreordained was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near foreordained

Cite this Entry

“Foreordained.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreordained. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

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