1
as in prediction
a declaration that something will happen in the future
a yearbook augury that of all the graduates, he would be the most likely to succeed
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2
as in omen
something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event
some people believe that a broken mirror is an augury of seven years' bad luck
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3
as in divination
the art or practice of foretelling future events by interpreting omens
the gift of augury that Nostradamus purportedly possessed
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of augury
Within its air of metropolitan disdain lurked an augury of England’s post-Brexit identity crisis, in which the country appears permanently torn between the deflating liberal dreams still harbored in the cities and the backlash fermenting in the provinces left behind.
—
Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2021
Her first food was fish skin, blackened and reeking of the sea—augury foreshadowing her fearlessness, her love of swimming, her appetites.
—Aria Beth Sloss, Bon Appétit, 22 Mar. 2022
As with all augury, there's room for interpretation.
—Matthew Askari, Car and Driver, 28 June 2022
During the past 14 years of drought, the Colorado River Delta has been a living augury of the Colorado River and the ever-expanding swell of Southwesterners who depend on it.
—The Editors, Outside Online, 23 Dec. 2014
See All Example Sentences for augury
Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2021
Her first food was fish skin, blackened and reeking of the sea—augury foreshadowing her fearlessness, her love of swimming, her appetites.
—Aria Beth Sloss, Bon Appétit, 22 Mar. 2022
As with all augury, there's room for interpretation.
—Matthew Askari, Car and Driver, 28 June 2022
During the past 14 years of drought, the Colorado River Delta has been a living augury of the Colorado River and the ever-expanding swell of Southwesterners who depend on it.
—The Editors, Outside Online, 23 Dec. 2014
See All Example Sentences for augury
Recent Examples of Synonyms for augury
Noun
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More Hall of Fame predictions: Will Deontay Wilder Be A Boxing Hall Of Famer? Will Regis Prograis Be A Boxing Hall Of Famer?—
Josh Katzowitz,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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And the early prediction is that the Patriots bank on getting more out of Polk than Bourne, who will turn 30 during training camp.—
Chad Graff,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Trump's experience with special elections as omens Republicans now have 220 House seats, Democrats 213.—
Susan Page,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2025
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Trump has had experience with the omens special elections can carry.—
Susan Page,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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As belief in traditional religions decreases and the rise of spirituality and skepticism in traditional institutions continues, this form of divination—looking to cards for answers for future, present, or past events—is on the rise.—
Michaela Trimble,
Vogue,
21 Apr. 2025
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The team found evidence of four different plants that are associated with ancient Maya medicine and divination rituals.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
26 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Indeed, VistaVision was the forerunner of IMAX 65mm, with its horizontal orientation.—
Bill Desowitz,
IndieWire,
21 Apr. 2025
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The company plans to recreate the mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, by editing the genome of each species’ closest living relative to make a hybrid animal that would be visually indistinguishable from its extinct forerunner.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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That helps combat the urban heat island effect, where an abundance of manmade surfaces like parking lots, sidewalks and streets absorb and hold onto heat and produce temperatures several degrees hotter than the overall temperature forecast.—
Madeline Heim,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2025
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The scale of duties announced in April, along with the volatility injected by subsequent updates and reversals in policy, have so far exceeded even the most bearish forecasts.—
Jenni Reid,Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But the attacks could have been interpreted very differently: as a horrific case of blowback and a portent of resistance to U.S. hegemony.—
Stephen Wertheim,
Foreign Affairs,
17 Mar. 2023
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Weinstein’s thuggish joke was just one portent of the edgy, borderline sinister air that permeated the party from the very beginning.—
Scott Huver,
The Hollywood Reporter,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Long wait times became a self-fulfilling prophecy In recent weeks, news of the turmoil at Social Security mobilized fretful Americans to telephone or visit the agency, seeding further chaos.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
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Overall, a self-fulfilling prophecy of success here.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
1 May 2025
Noun
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The result is chaos, bewilderment and delay that presages rising consumer prices.—
Peter S. Goodman,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
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There’s a kind of implicit prayer in this that the withering of today’s Hollywood system is a presage for something better, giving the entire production a painful, nostalgic quality that tugs at your chest even as what unfolds before you is remarkably dumb.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Augury.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/augury. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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