foreshadowing

noun

fore·​shad·​ow·​ing fȯr-ˈsha-də-wiŋ 

plural foreshadowings

: an indication of what is to come

If the history of the world were a novel, the events so strikingly chronicled in the photographs in this book … would seem a foreshadowing of the recent events …

—Ralph Novak

On this merry Christmas evening, however, no fears or dim foreshadowings of any coming event clouded our hearts or faces.

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

also : the use of such indications (as in a work of literature)

And, further, Rose is a genuine cliff-hanger, or page-turner, full of foreshadowing … and all the tried and tricky methods of creating suspense.

—John Simon

Synonyms

• augury
• auspice
• boding
• foreboding
• omen
• portent
• prefiguring
• presage

Examples of foreshadowing in a Sentence

the hero's strange encounter with a grave digger is often seen as a foreshadowing of his own death

Recent Examples on the Web

The foreshadowing of their downfall is more interesting than anything else Porsha is bringing to the show in what was supposed to be her triumphant return. —Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2025

The Dreamgirls star provided some foreshadowing of the big day in a November 2006 interview with Cosmopolitan. —Emy Lacroix, People.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Could this be a foreshadowing of how the Opening Day lineup might look? —Katie Woo, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025

But there’s also a bit of distracting stunt casting in the form of Kurt Russell as a corrupt mogul named Dob McCoy, who has a special ability to turn locals against each other and ruin their crops, his castor farm an ominous foreshadowing of hell-bent poisonings to come. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for foreshadowing

• overshadowing
• shadowing