as in destined
to determine the fate of in advance
we are such good friends, it's almost like we were foreordained to meet
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as in preordained
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Recent Examples of foreordained
Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024
The film is a tragedy in which everything comes out right: Coppola builds his protagonist’s absurd overreach into a foreordained happy ending, and the movie itself is a happy outcome from the very start.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2024
Yet even now, Deng’s warning holds: an Asian century is neither inevitable nor foreordained.
—Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2020
Her foray into television, which started in 2017, was not exactly foreordained.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 14 May 2024
With all of those movements, when the central issue was really crystallized as a choice between what is clearly right and just, and what is clearly unjust and wrong and deadly and dangerous, then the outcome becomes foreordained.
—Cara Buckley, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
As Robinson notes, the story had to go this way because Jacob has a foreordained task in becoming one of the patriarchs of Israel.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
For all the talk of Senate traditions, the outcome seems pretty foreordained if the Democrats win a majority and the intractable McConnell continues as GOP leader.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Aug. 2020
And that success is far from foreordained.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 Aug. 2022
Verb
What unfolds next is both foreordained and unpredictable: a performance superficially the same as any other rendition of the same score, but also profoundly different — wondrous, perhaps, or merely rote.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024
The film is a tragedy in which everything comes out right: Coppola builds his protagonist’s absurd overreach into a foreordained happy ending, and the movie itself is a happy outcome from the very start.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2024
Yet even now, Deng’s warning holds: an Asian century is neither inevitable nor foreordained.
—Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2020
Her foray into television, which started in 2017, was not exactly foreordained.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 14 May 2024
With all of those movements, when the central issue was really crystallized as a choice between what is clearly right and just, and what is clearly unjust and wrong and deadly and dangerous, then the outcome becomes foreordained.
—Cara Buckley, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
As Robinson notes, the story had to go this way because Jacob has a foreordained task in becoming one of the patriarchs of Israel.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
For all the talk of Senate traditions, the outcome seems pretty foreordained if the Democrats win a majority and the intractable McConnell continues as GOP leader.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Aug. 2020
And that success is far from foreordained.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreordained
Verb
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The two floors dedicated to offices — including Martin’s personal one — as well as a basement space destined to content production and the brand’s archives are also undergoing the finishing touches.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
9 Apr. 2025
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Detroit’s playoff drought looks destined to go to nine years, the second-longest active drought of any team (Buffalo is the longest at 14), and tied for the fourth-longest drought in NHL history.—
Max Bultman,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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An away victory would have doomed Peru completely but now the race to qualify, for that play-off spot at least, is back on.—
Joseph O'Sullivan,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
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But without empathy, responsibility, agency, and free will he is doomed to remain a wooden facsimile.—
Ann Kowal Smith,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Foreordained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreordained. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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