prognosticate

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verb prog·nos·ti·cate \ präg-ˈnäs-tə-ˌkāt \

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 \-ˌkā-tiv\ adjective

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prognosticator

play \-ˌkā-tər\ noun

See prognosticate defined for kids

prognosticate was our Word of the Day on 09/22/2007. Hear the podcast!

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

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
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
So while the experts on ESPN and across the Internet have been prognosticating for weeks, Jimmy Fallon's method may make a little more sense in this particular case: Just use a bunch of puppies.

— ryan bort, Esquire, "Watch Fallon Use Puppies to Predict the Winner of the NCAA Basketball Tournament," 1 Apr. 2015
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

Synonyms

augur, call, forecast, predict, presage, foretell, prophesy, read, vaticinate

Related Words

alert, caution, forewarn, warn; bode, forebode (also forbode), portend, promise; anticipate, divine, foreknow, foresee; announce, declare, herald, proclaim

Near Antonyms

describe, narrate, recite, recount, relate, report, tell

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.