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
Her foray into television, which started in 2017, was not exactly foreordained.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 14 May 2024
And that success is far from foreordained.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 Aug. 2022
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
Yet even now, Deng’s warning holds: an Asian century is neither inevitable nor foreordained.
—Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2020
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
Her foray into television, which started in 2017, was not exactly foreordained.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 14 May 2024
And that success is far from foreordained.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 Aug. 2022
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
Yet even now, Deng’s warning holds: an Asian century is neither inevitable nor foreordained.
—Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreordained
Verb
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However, Chelsea’s chances could be impacted by an injury crisis in defense, while Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez also look destined to miss out.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
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Prince William and Crown Prince Hussein are both heirs to their country's thrones, meaning their wives are both destined to be queens one day.—
Janine Henni,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement If Earth is ultimately doomed—if the sun will begin to incinerate us in about a billion years—Mars wouldn’t do as a safe harbor, since that planet would be put to the torch as well.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
22 Oct. 2025
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The drama doesn’t stop, and the trailer for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 3 just dropped, revealing that MomTok could be doomed.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For instance, the network included connections between cardinals who worked together in Vatican departments, between those who ordained, or were ordained by, another and between those who were friends.—
Jack Murtagh,
Scientific American,
11 Oct. 2025
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Mullally was ordained in 2001 and left the government three years later for church roles at Salisbury Cathedral and then becoming only the fourth woman bishop in the Church of England as the Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Once all spots are sold, the breaker opens the box live online, revealing which cards go to which participant based on the predetermined assignments.—
Mark Billingsley,
Sacbee.com,
13 Oct. 2025
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That feeling of walking into a room and having people turn to you with a predetermined respect.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Foreordained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreordained. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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