prophet

noun

proph·​et ˈprä-fət 

1

: one who utters divinely inspired revelations: such as

a

often capitalized : the writer of one of the prophetic books of the Bible

b

capitalized : one regarded by a group of followers as the final authoritative revealer of God's will

Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah

2

: one gifted with more than ordinary spiritual and moral insight

especially : an inspired poet

3

: one who foretells future events : predictor

4

: an effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine, or group

5

Christian Science

a

: a spiritual seer

b

: disappearance of material sense before the conscious facts of spiritual Truth

prophethood

ˈprä-fət-ˌhu̇d 

noun

Synonyms

• augur
• diviner
• forecaster
• foreseer
• foreteller
• fortune-teller
• futurist
• prognosticator
• prophesier
• seer
• soothsayer
• visionary

Examples of prophet in a Sentence

the words of the prophet

an economist who is regarded by many as a reliable prophet of future developments in the global economy

Recent Examples on the Web

In the summer of 1929 a few prophets foresaw the coming stock market crash. —Harold Van B. Cleveland, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2023

For obsessives, such as the music writer Lester Bangs, Reed was half prophet, half clown. —Ian Penman, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023

This makes his predictions sound like the stuff of a madman or a prophet. —David Kushner, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2023

The same man who once earnestly referred to himself as a prophet is now paralyzed by his inability to either have or act on any firm conviction; the veneer of his certainty in his own power has been stripped away. —Iva Dixit, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2023

And oh, Allah, please send peace to our prophet, the master of the worlds. —NBC News, 13 Sep. 2023

Successive expulsions and exiles forced the Jewish poets and prophets, like Red Sox fans of yore, to imagine defeat as a virtue, dispossession as a gift, failure today as a promise of victory tomorrow. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023

And lo and behold, new life was breathed into Allende, the visionary prophet of a new order. —Ariel Dorfman, The New York Review of Books, 31 Aug. 2023

Some dismissed his speech as a misinformed rant, noting that the biblical figure Daniel is also revered as a prophet by Muslims. —Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 19 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English prophete, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin prophēta "spokesman or interpreter of a god" (Late Latin also prophētēs "revealer of God's will, foreteller of future events"), borrowed from Greek prophḗtēs "one who interprets the will of a god to humans, interpreter," (Septuagint) "revealer of God's will," (New Testament) "inspired preacher and teacher, foreteller of future events," from pro- pro- entry 1 + phē-, stem of phēmí, phánai "to speak, say" + -tēs, agent suffix — more at ban entry 1

Note: A few attestations in late Old English, apparently declined as a weak noun, are directly from Latin.

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing prophet

• prophet of doom

• prophet of doom

Kids Definition

prophet

noun

proph·​et ˈpräf-ət 

1

: one who declares publicly a message that one believes has come from God or a god

2

: one who foretells future events