prophetic

pro·phet·ic | \ prə-ˈfe-tik

How to pronounce prophetic (audio)

\

variants: or less commonly prophetical \ prə-ˈfe-ti-kəl

How to pronounce prophetical (audio)

\

Definition of prophetic

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

2 : foretelling events : predictive

Other Words from prophetic Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about prophetic

Keep scrolling for more

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 This warning proved prophetic: In the last few days, San Quentin has run low on cells with solid doors for isolating patients and is now trying to turn other housing units into COVID-19 wards. — Jason Fagone, SFChronicle.com, "UC health experts: San Quentin coronavirus outbreak could pose threat to entire Bay Area," 24 June 2020 Its coinage feels both ancestral in its knowledge and prophetic in its ongoing necessity. — Elizabeth Alexander, The New Yorker, "The Trayvon Generation," 15 June 2020 Garrido, who died two years ago following a stroke, proved prophetic. — Brent Zwerneman, ExpressNews.com, "15 years into Rob Childress era, pitching a consistent strength for Texas A&M," 13 June 2020 The cry of the citizenry is a prophetic message: Where there is no justice, there will be no peace! — Kweku Ramel Akyirefi Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Opinion: In Milwaukee's racial climate, there is a problem behind the problem that creates anarchy, chaos and division," 5 June 2020 All of which made the bankers seem almost prophetic. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Republican Congress members upset banks dropping support for fossil fuels," 11 May 2020 The safety, who spent half of last season with the Redskins, proved prophetic as the Bears went from one takeaway last week at Denver — their first of the season — to five in the win over the Redskins. — Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, "Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Bears’ 31-15 win over the Redskins in Week 3," 24 Sep. 2019 An exploration into the emerging techniques of biological surveillance and forensic DNA phenotyping, the series proved prophetic. — S.h. | New York, The Economist, "Heather Dewey-Hagborg mixes biotechnology and art," 15 July 2019 Don’t Play With Me — Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) December 20, 2017 Theory: This one is pretty self-explanatory — and prophetic. — Adam H. Beasley, miamiherald, "The Dolphins’ Jarvis Landry has some cryptic tweets. Let’s try to make sense of them," 10 Jan. 2018

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about prophetic

Dictionary Entries near prophetic

propheticalness

Statistics for prophetic

Last Updated

9 Jul 2020

Cite this Entry

“Prophetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prophetic. Accessed 10 Jul. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for prophetic

prophetic

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of prophetic

: correctly stating what will happen in the future

: of or relating to a prophet or to prophecy

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

prophetic

pro·phet·ic | \ prə-ˈfe-tik

\

Kids Definition of prophetic

1 : of or relating to a prophet or prophecy

2 : serving to foretell His cough was prophetic of an early death.— Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

histrionic

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.