prophetic

adjective

pro·​phet·​ic prə-ˈfe-tik 

variants or less commonly prophetical

prə-ˈfe-ti-kəl 

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy

2

: foretelling events : predictive

prophetically

prə-ˈfe-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• predictive

Examples of prophetic in a Sentence

the prophetic books of the Old Testament

in retrospect, those lower-than-expected sales numbers were a prophetic indicator of the financial trouble the company would soon be in

Recent Examples on the Web

My niece is quoting the great poet Audre Lorde, but Ms. Lorde, though prophetic, wasn’t running a nonprofit. —Anna Deavere Smith, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2023

Published in 1918, the American intellectual’s autobiography is an idiosyncratic record of a man’s development in the modern world that still possesses a prophetic power. —John Wilmerding, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2023

The spotlight trained on Little Simz at the Fillmore Silver Spring gilded the British Nigerian rapper like a prophetic figure in an illuminated scripture. —Teta Alim, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023

And that’s without even getting into the clone army or the prophetic camera or the weird new teacher or decades-long mystery binding their families together. —Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2023

That warning proved prophetic last week as the lake sent water rushing down into the valley below. —Krishna Pokharel, WSJ, 8 Oct. 2023

Once ostracized and called a witch, she is now considered prophetic and gifted, and the people in her town flock to her for good luck. —Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Sep. 2023

Ross is almost startlingly prophetic in some passages. —Jim Sleeper, The New Republic, 4 Sep. 2023

Icke clearly wants to turn Schnitzler’s prophetic drama into a state-of-the-world debate—exposing not just the venality of Ruth’s fellow-doctors, such as the self-serving Hardiman (Naomi Wirthner), but also a larger panic around identity politics. —Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English prophetyk, borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French prophetique, borrowed from Late Latin prophēticus, borrowed from Greek prophētikós, from prophḗtēs prophet + -ikos -ic entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

prophetic

adjective

pro·​phet·​ic prə-ˈfet-ik 

variants or prophetical

-ˈfet-i-kəl 

: of or relating to a prophet or prophecy

prophetically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb