prognosticate

verb prog·nos·ti·cate \ präg-ˈnä-stə-ˌkāt \

Updated on: 8 Apr 2018

Definition of prognosticate

prognosticated; prognosticating

transitive verb

1 : to foretell from signs or symptoms : predict

2 : to give an indication of in advance : foreshadow

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prognosticative

play \präg-ˈnä-stə-ˌkā-tiv\ adjective

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prognosticator

play \präg-ˈnä-stə-ˌkā-tər\ noun

See prognosticate defined for kids

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Examples of prognosticate in a Sentence

using current trends to prognosticate what the workplace of the future will be like

Recent Examples of prognosticate from the Web

According to the Free Press' prognosticating pair, the Cubs will take the division, but the rest is up in the air.

— dana sulonen, Detroit Free Press, "MLB predictions: Choosing league winners, postseason teams and awards," 27 Mar. 2018
No one is really good at prognosticating—in the media or elsewhere—at least not for very long.

— jim impoco, Newsweek, "The Beatles Suck. Yeah, We Said That," 3 Feb. 2014
This kind of information allows for better prognosticating their future production.

— jared diamond, WSJ, "In a Tepid Free-Agent Market, Baseball Teams Still Need Relief," 5 Mar. 2018
Everyone seems to have an opinion: The National Restaurant Association surveyed more than 700 chefs and released its food forecast, the Food Network Kitchen's prognosticators prognosticated, and even hotels got in on the prediction action.

— katherine lagrave, Condé Nast Traveler, "Food Trends: What You'll Be Eating in 2018," 12 Dec. 2017
Nevertheless, faith in Tom Brady at home remains a near-absolute in my prognosticating canon.

— greg cote, miamiherald, "Top game, big upset lead our parade of NFL Week 8 picks | Miami Herald," 26 Oct. 2017
That called for some elasticity of mind, some willingness to view this new circumstance with a measure of charity and receptivity – a determination to watch and listen rather than pronounce and prognosticate.

— barton swaim, Twin Cities, "Barton Swaim: Why bother with an open mind?," 25 May 2017
Remember, nothing on the internet can prognosticate perfectly, but Kayak’s metrics are a helpful gauge.

— Fox News, "5 best sites for finding travel deals," 11 June 2017
The obsessive-compulsive Mac me-zine community has been prognosticating for quite some time now, but with exceptionally little certainty.

— lukas hauser, WIRED, "The Real Macworld," 18 July 2001

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

Did You Know?

Prognosticate, which comes from the Greek prognōstikos (foretelling), first appeared in English during the 15th century. Since that time, prognosticate has been connected with things that give omens or warnings of events to come and with people who can prophesy or predict the future by such signs. Shakespeare used the prophesy sense of prognosticate in the sonnet that begins Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck:

"From thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And constant stars in them I read such art
...of thee this I prognosticate,
Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date."

First Known Use of prognosticate

15th century

prognosticate Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of prognosticate

foretell, predict, forecast, prophesy, prognosticate mean to tell beforehand. foretell applies to the telling of the coming of a future event by any procedure or any source of information.

- seers foretold the calamity

predict commonly implies inference from facts or accepted laws of nature.

- astronomers predicted an eclipse

forecast adds the implication of anticipating eventualities and differs from predict in being usually concerned with probabilities rather than certainties.

- forecast snow

prophesy connotes inspired or mystic knowledge of the future especially as the fulfilling of divine threats or promises.

- prophesying a new messiah

prognosticate is used less often than the other words; it may suggest learned or skilled interpretation, but more often it is simply a colorful substitute for predict or prophesy.