as in to foreshadow
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow
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Recent Examples of adumbrate
In between, works by contemporaries complicate superficial ideas about his meteoric genius, and small, delicate drawings teem with an abundance of ideas — paintings never made, thoughts adumbrated then abandoned.
—
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrate
Verb
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Bathrooms are expansive and clad in white marble, foreshadowing the scale of the sublime spa across the street.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
-
The moment was foreshadowed a week earlier when Gritty posted a photo on TikTok of the Penguins’ mascot.—
Ryan Brennan
April 23,
Kansas City Star,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Brier sees progress in this area but says the time horizon for practical humanoids is longer than what most anticipate.—
Dr. Jonathan Reichental,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2026
-
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is set to rejoin the rotation sooner than anticipated after teammate Tyler Glasnow left a start early this week because of back trouble.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 May 2026
Verb
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The race took on the dimensions of a proxy battle between OpenAI and Anthropic, a clash of money and priorities that seems likely to prefigure other midterm contests.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
7 May 2026
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That prefigured, in a much smaller and less consequential way, Iran’s own actions in blocking the Strait of Hormuz during the current crisis.—
Ioana Emy Matesan,
The Conversation,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Many eclipse chasers ignored South America's total solar eclipse in 2019, which was short and predicted by some to be cloudy, for a slightly longer, supposedly clearer one in 2020 in almost the same place.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
10 May 2026
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Green had predicted on his podcast once the season ended that Kerr wouldn’t return.—
Janie McCauley,
Los Angeles Times,
10 May 2026
Verb
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Several characters are killed off throughout the new movie, some minor and a few shockingly major, although the ending implies not all of the deaths will be permanent.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
9 May 2026
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According to Medoza, Peters also implied that the vial of medication, which is not approved by the FDA, also included a blend of drugs, including methamphetamine.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
8 May 2026
Verb
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Martinez has proved, as heralded, to be the great clubhouse presence who provides guidance and leadership.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 May 2026
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They'd be heralded not by rippling explosions or flash frozen corpses floating against a tapestry of stars, but instead by oxygen, almost imperceptibly slipping away or radiation slowly accumulating in our cells over years.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Nobody could have foreseen this just six months ago.—
Josh Brown and Sean Russo,
CNBC,
4 May 2026
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In 2016, Henry foresaw Alan Thicke having health issues months before Thicke died.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adumbrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrate. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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