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

• forerunner
• hint
• precursor
• portent
• prediction
• omen
• foreboding
• presage
• suggestion
• herald
• augury
• prefiguring

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

In a foreshadowing of what her later critics would call her victim-blaming, Ms. Brownmiller argued that Ms. Nussbaum was not a passive victim and should have been held partly accountable for the girl’s death. —Katharine Q. Seelye, New York Times, 26 May 2025

Was that foreshadowing of a win for the 25-year-old New York nurse (and Bryan)? —Christopher Kuhagen, jsonline.com, 13 July 2025

That weakness could be a foreshadowing of the inflation to come. —Jj Kinahan, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025

Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples and shared a foreshadowing of Judas’ betrayal at the Garden of Gethsemane. —Chris Sims, Louisville Courier Journal, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for foreshadowing

• overshadowing
• shadowing