adumbrating

verb

present participle of adumbrate
as in foreshadowing
to give a slight indication of beforehand the strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrating
  1. foreshadowing
  2. prefiguring
  3. predicting
  4. implying
  5. anticipating
  6. heralding
  7. foreseeing
Verb
  • As all of this finale drama is happening around him, Danny gets increasingly drunker, foreshadowing absolutely nothing good coming our way.
    — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 30 July 2026
  • The regulatory move was seen as foreshadowing a wider approval for these types of products on equities.
    — Yun Li, CNBC, 27 July 2026
Definition of foreshadowing
Verb
  • On the city’s West Side, the site of storied clubs such as Silvio’s as well as the Maxwell Street Market, blues musicians developed a style of electric blues in the 1950s that typically included a horn section (prefiguring soul music).
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Definition of prefiguring
Verb
  • Seat counts have stopped predicting anything, which means the pricing model underneath thirty years of enterprise software is now unstable in both directions, and everybody selling it knows.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • AlphaFold achieved remarkable accuracy at predicting a protein’s likely three-dimensional structure.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of predicting
Verb
  • The bank reiterated its buy rating on the data services stock and raised its 12-month price target to $540 from $450, implying 23% upside from Wednesday's close.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2026
  • What outrages Marylanders is that this diabolical plan excludes the Preakness, devaluing it and implying the Triple Crown is irrelevant, if not dead.
    — Stephen J. K. Walters, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of implying
Verb
  • The memorial is funded by private donations, and the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation is anticipating to dedicate the memorial in late 2028.
    — Mike Stunson, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026
  • But less accurate data, and less data collected overall, can prevent experts from accurately anticipating future events.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of anticipating
Verb
  • Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, bought Chelsea in 2003, heralding a new era of financialization and oligarchic control.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
  • Merck’s Lipfendra achieved similar results to injectable treatments, potentially heralding a new era of easier prevention for people wanting to bring down artery-clogging cholesterol.
    — J.D. Capelouto, semafor.com, 16 July 2026
Definition of heralding
Verb
  • Nevertheless, Patel remains optimistic, foreseeing a future where human creativity and critical thinking combine with AI's potential for endless possibilities.
    — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • The survey is an indicator of companies foreseeing good conditions minus those feeling pessimistic.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of foreseeing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Adumbrating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrating. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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