adumbrate

verb

ˈa-dəm-ˌbrāt How to pronounce adumbrate (audio)
Definition of adumbratenext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrate
  1. foreshadow
  2. anticipate
  3. prefigure
  4. predict
  5. imply
  6. herald
  7. foresee
Verb
  • On the title track Chen reaches for the psaltery (a kind of zither without frets), creating a meandering, medieval atmosphere whose ubiquitous electronic background buzz foreshadows the biting screams and blistering bass to come.
    — James Gui, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Weeks before the election, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC allied with House Speaker Mike Johnson, shifted resources away from Kean's race to other critical contests, foreshadowing the 7th District outcome.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of foreshadow
Verb
  • These will include a next generation of landers the agency anticipates needing once humans have started to return to the moon regularly.
    — Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2026
  • But there were delays that set back their timetable for opening, including significantly more repair work than originally anticipated.
    — Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of anticipate
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
  • Other Black families tried to hold on under the new regime but ultimately found Wilmington untenable and moved north, joining a local exodus that prefigured the Great Migration.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026
Definition of prefigure
Verb
  • The model predicted that this effect was concentrated in those cells rather than occurring broadly across other cell types.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • The report also found that the potential effect of data centers on Fort Worth electric bills is unknown and difficult to predict, and that there is little data surrounding noise levels in data centers aside from anecdotal evidence.
    — Emily Holshouser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of predict
Verb
  • The $250 Ring Drone Camera offers exactly what the product’s name implies — the technology to capture moving images from a lens affixed to a small quadcopter drone, according to the company.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 10 Nov. 2026
  • The underlying implication in much of the criticism was that non-Equity shows are subpar and that hosting them implies a tacit acceptance of the mistreatment of actors.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of imply
Verb
  • But rather than the usual micro-adjustments, the platform’s announcement of Features — allowing creators to upload horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes — heralds a more radical shift.
    — Annie Corser, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Written and produced by Luc Besson, the film heralds from director Barthélémy Grossmann.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of herald
Verb
  • Real programs still produce events nobody could foresee, and that is what reactive capacity is for.
    — Leslie Ellis, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Perhaps foreseeing the end of his own long walk in the woods, Redford sold the Sundance Mountain Resort in 2020 to Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners.
    — Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of foresee

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adumbrate
adumbrated
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Cite this Entry

“Adumbrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrate. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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