future

adjective

fu·ture | \ ˈfyü-chər

Definition of future

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : that is to be specifically : existing after death doctrine of a future life — John Kenrick

2 : of, relating to, or constituting a verb tense expressive of time yet to come

3 : existing or occurring at a later time met his future wife We cannot foretell future events.

future

noun

Definition of future (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : time that is to come

b : what is going to happen

2 : an expectation of advancement or progressive development

3 : something (such as a bulk commodity) bought for future acceptance or sold for future delivery —usually used in plural grain futures

4a : the future tense of a language

b : a verb form in the future tense

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about future

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Synonyms & Antonyms for future

Synonyms: Adjective

coming, unborn

Synonyms: Noun

by-and-by, futurity, hereafter, offing, tomorrow

Antonyms: Adjective

bygone, past

Antonyms: Noun

past

Examples of future in a Sentence

Adjective

We cannot predict future events. Future generations will benefit from this research.

Noun

We're making plans for the future. They will hire more people sometime in the future. What do you think you will be doing in the future? What does the future hold for you? It's impossible to predict the future. The company faces an uncertain future. The future was already decided for her.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The far side landing is a lynch pin for future Chang’e missions, which are planned well into the 2020s. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "China Successfully Lands on Far Side of Moon," 3 Jan. 2019 And on top of that, SpaceX announced the first passenger for the future Starship — a Japanese billionaire who supposedly put down a substantial deposit to ride on the vehicle. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "The Verge 2018 tech report card: SpaceX," 29 Dec. 2018 That statement jibes with NYT's indication that future Black Mirror episodes are currently in production. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Not Bander-snatched: Black Mirror confirms fifth season plans," 28 Dec. 2018 The woman with the iPad politely tells him the restaurant is fully booked but directs him to the website for a future reservation. — Mary Holland, Condé Nast Traveler, "What It's Like to Eat at Noma, One of the World’s Most Famous Restaurants," 21 Dec. 2018 Microsoft pre-announced that Windows Sandbox would first be tested within a future Windows 10 Insider build, beginning with build 18305 or newer. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft announces Windows Sandbox, a virtualized safe space for testing untrusted apps," 19 Dec. 2018 But while gifting stuff certainly has its place, why not mix it up a bit and give your favorites a future memory, or a soothing feeling, or the resources to learn a new skill, instead? — Annie Daly, SELF, "7 Wellness Experiences That Are Excellent Last-Minute Gift Ideas," 21 Dec. 2018 Spectacles are Snap’s very early effort to understand that technology, meaning the glasses are likely more important to Snap’s future business than its current one. — Kurt Wagner, Recode, "Snap has a new Spectacles boss, its third in the past six months," 18 Dec. 2018 In this case, Dr. Bhuyan says that physicians will prescribe daily suppressive antiviral medications to prevent them from getting future outbreaks. — Yerin Kim, Seventeen, "What Is Herpes and How Do I Know if I Have It?," 11 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The monster vehicle, intended to take large groups of people onto the Moon or Mars, is supposedly the future of the company. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "The Verge 2018 tech report card: SpaceX," 29 Dec. 2018 Hertz has been eager to adopt new technology and partner with other companies in an effort to prove there is still a future in rental cars despite pressure from ride-hailing companies and self-driving cars. — Dee-ann Durbin, The Seattle Times, "Hertz, Clear partner to speed rentals with biometric scans," 12 Dec. 2018 Whether or not your privacy can be preserved in the future while shopping for paper towels is up for debate. — Stefan Etienne, The Verge, "Walmart secured a patent to eavesdrop on shoppers and employees," 21 Dec. 2018 Martinez says, pointing several days in the future. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "Inside FedEx’s Christmas Miracle," 19 Dec. 2018 But today, Musk said the only vehicles that would enter his tunnels in the future would be autonomous electric vehicles with deployable tracking wheels. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Ars takes a first tour of the length of The Boring Company’s test tunnel," 19 Dec. 2018 Arbitrators, for example, can be prone to splitting their decisions over time to curry favor with both sides and enhance their chances of being selected in the future, critics say. — Steve Miletich, The Seattle Times, "Defending police reforms, Seattle tells federal judge that reinstatement of officer who punched woman is an ‘outlier’," 19 Dec. 2018 Putting the camera on your face instead of in your pocket could make that even easier in the future. — Kurt Wagner, Recode, "Snap has a new Spectacles boss, its third in the past six months," 18 Dec. 2018 This allows you to learn from your experience and apply it in the future (hence why practice stress techniques are used when training for NASA, the FBI, and other high-risk fields of work). — Kate Branch, Vogue, "Now, Experts Say Stress Can Be Good for Your Health—Really," 18 Dec. 2018

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

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Dictionary Entries near future

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Last Updated

8 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for future

The first known use of future was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for future

future

noun

Financial Definition of future

What It Is

Futures are financial contracts giving the buyer an obligation to purchase an asset (and the seller an obligation to sell an asset) at a set price at a future point in time.

How It Works

Futures are also called futures contracts.

The assets often traded in futures contracts include commodities, stocks, and bonds. Grain, precious metals, electricity, oil, beef, orange juice, and natural gas are traditional examples of commodities, but foreign currencies, emissions credits, bandwidth, and certain financial instruments are also part of today's commodity markets.

There are two kinds of futures traders: hedgers and speculators. Hedgers do not usually seek a profit by trading commodities ev but rather seek to stabilize the revenues or costs of their business operations. Their gains or losses are usually offset to some degree by a corresponding loss or gain in the market for the underlying physical commodity.

Speculators are usually not interested in taking possession of the underlying assets. They essentially place bets on the future prices of certain commodities. Thus, if you disagree with the consensus that wheat prices are going to fall, you might buy a futures contract. If your prediction is right and wheat prices increase, you could make money by selling the futures contract (which is now worth a lot more) before it expires (this prevents you from having to take delivery of the wheat as well). Speculators are often blamed for big price swings, but they also provide liquidity to the futures market.

Futures contracts are standardized, meaning that they specify the underlying commodity's quality, quantity, and delivery so that the prices mean the same thing to everyone in the market. For example, each kind of crude oil (light sweet crude, for example) must meet the same quality specifications so that light sweet crude from one producer is no different from another and the buyer of light sweet crude futures knows exactly what he's getting.

Futures exchanges depend on clearing members to manage the payments between buyer and seller. They are usually large banks and financial services companies. Clearing members guarantee each trade and thus require traders to make good-faith deposits (called margins) in order to ensure that the trader has sufficient funds to handle potential losses and will not default on the trade. The risk borne by clearing members lends further support to the strict quality, quantity, and delivery specifications of futures contracts.

Regulation
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates commodities futures trading through its enforcement of the Commodity Exchange Act of 1974 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. The CFTC works to ensure the competitiveness, efficiency, and integrity of the commodities futures markets and protects against manipulation, abusive trading, and fraud.

Futures Exchanges
There are several futures exchanges. Common ones include The New York Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange, the Kansas City Board of Trade, and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

Why It Matters

Futures are a great way for companies involved in the commodities industries to stabilize their prices and thus their operations and financial performance. Futures give them the ability to "set" prices or costs well in advance, which in turn allows them to plan better, smooth out cash flows, and communicate with shareholders more confidently.

Futures trading is a zero-sum game; that is, if somebody makes a million dollars, somebody else loses a million dollars. Because futures contracts can be purchased on margin, meaning that the investor can buy a contract with a partial loan from his or her broker, futures traders have an incredible amount of leverage with which to trade thousands or millions of dollars worth of contracts with very little of their own money.

Source: Investing Answers

future

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of future

(Entry 1 of 2)

: coming after the present time : existing in the future

—used to say what someone or something will be

future

noun

English Language Learners Definition of future (Entry 2 of 2)

: the period of time that will come after the present time

the future : the events that will happen after the present time

: the condition or situation of someone or something in the time that will come

See the full definition for future in the English Language Learners Dictionary

future

adjective

fu·ture | \ ˈfyü-chər

Kids Definition of future

(Entry 1 of 2)

: coming after the present future events

future

noun

Kids Definition of future (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the period of time that is to come What will happen in the future?

2 : the chance of future success You have a bright future.

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future

noun

fu·ture

Legal Definition of future

: a contract traded on an exchange in which a party agrees to buy or sell a quantity of a bulk commodity (as soybeans) at a specified future date and at a set price —usually used in pl.

Note: If the price of the commodity has gone up when the future date arrives, the buyer in the contract profits. If the price has gone down, the seller profits.