as in herald
one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another
her father's successful job interview was seen as a harbinger of better times to come
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to herald
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the hope that the housing slump does not harbinger a general economic recession
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harbinger
Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
One harbinger of this is the fact that many of the contestants who star in this season of the show are either cringe, mean, or both.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2025
Hellbound In Hellbound, a harbinger from Hell lets people know when they’re bound to die.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
The trend may be a harbinger for more widespread changes, and the researchers plan to continue tracking the data.
—Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harbinger
Noun
The Dash is also a harbinger of death.
—Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
One harbinger of this is the fact that many of the contestants who star in this season of the show are either cringe, mean, or both.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2025
Hellbound In Hellbound, a harbinger from Hell lets people know when they’re bound to die.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
The trend may be a harbinger for more widespread changes, and the researchers plan to continue tracking the data.
—Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harbinger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harbinger
Noun
-
Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma put down the supe uprising, but then psychotic fascist Homelander showed up to condemn them as villains and herald the murderous Cate and Sam as top students and potential recruits for the thoroughly corrupt Seven.—
EW Staff,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Sep. 2025
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But Choi and Dang are no longer liberica’s sole heralds.—
Alex Mayyasi,
Saveur,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In this melancholy-comic subversion of a rags-to-riches story Karl’s empathetic musings about those less fortunate immigrants foreshadow his subsequent downhill trajectory.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Oct. 2025
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Your character also returns to Italy, hiding under a blanket, which was a moment foreshadowed in the very beginning.—
Giana Levy,
Variety,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.—
Benjamin Nathans
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
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The event turned out to be a forerunner to the UN Earth Summit.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Let’s tie it all together by predicting that the first meeting of the season between Toronto and Philadelphia gets well and truly out of control … which by today’s standards means there are three fights in the game.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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High geopolitical volatility makes predicting the market’s future even more difficult than usual, a Reuters columnist argued.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The event is a precursor to the major United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, next month.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
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Some people in this group had Alzheimer’s dementia, others had what is called mild cognitive impairment of the Alzheimer’s type (which is sometimes a precursor to the disease) while another group with no evidence of dementia or cognitive decline served as a control.—
Robert Martone,
Scientific American,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The most significant jump in imports into Italy was from China, up 18 percent in the period, implying that many fast fashion players are gaining Italians over.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
7 Oct. 2025
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After praising the male LGBTQIA+ members of their friendship circle, Consuelos then implied a wilder theory about the heterosexual female friends in Ripa's life.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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To commemorate his legacy, city and community leaders gathered on Thursday — on what would have been his 85th birthday — to install an honorary street sign at the intersection of Tooley Street and Oriole Street in Encanto.—
Maura Fox,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Oct. 2025
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The researchers also uncovered signs of immune and inflammation pathways involved in the disease, which could help guide treatment in the future.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Andersen’s story may have prefigured this moment, although no major actor in the war wants to be the boy.—
MICHAEL KIMMAGE,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
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This early embrace of mechanical rhythm prefigured what would later become a foundation of hip-hop and electronic music.—
Jose Valentino Ruiz,
The Conversation,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harbinger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harbinger. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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