as in to destine
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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Recent Examples of foreordain
Wagner commented that in opera the orchestra should act as a medium of premonition, indicating what is foreordained but not yet foreseen.
—
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February, 2022, was no more inevitable or foreordained than the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
—Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
Before anything else is said about Lana Del Rey’s new album, let it be noted that however well the record came out, it was foreordained to come in second among her artistic works of the past year.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2023
Pelosi is more than happy for additional evidence to be disclosed and for the Senate to call witnesses, even after the House has impeached and when the resolution of the trial is foreordained.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 17 Jan. 2020
The outcome was not foreordained, for either Bork or Mr. Biden.
—Alexander Burns, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2019
The 41st president, who couldn’t always get his sentences straight, wasn’t foreordained for history’s hall of fame.
—Josef Joffe, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2018
Aster piles on the personal confrontations and emotional breakdowns, but compounds them with unnerving new hauntings, all the way up to an ending that feels foreordained, but still shattering.
—Tasha Robinson, The Verge, 8 June 2018
This is hardly foreordained, especially if the U.S. reasserts itself on the global stage and rallies like-minded nations against the revisionists.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 18 Dec. 2017
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February, 2022, was no more inevitable or foreordained than the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
—Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
Before anything else is said about Lana Del Rey’s new album, let it be noted that however well the record came out, it was foreordained to come in second among her artistic works of the past year.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2023
Pelosi is more than happy for additional evidence to be disclosed and for the Senate to call witnesses, even after the House has impeached and when the resolution of the trial is foreordained.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 17 Jan. 2020
The outcome was not foreordained, for either Bork or Mr. Biden.
—Alexander Burns, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2019
The 41st president, who couldn’t always get his sentences straight, wasn’t foreordained for history’s hall of fame.
—Josef Joffe, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2018
Aster piles on the personal confrontations and emotional breakdowns, but compounds them with unnerving new hauntings, all the way up to an ending that feels foreordained, but still shattering.
—Tasha Robinson, The Verge, 8 June 2018
This is hardly foreordained, especially if the U.S. reasserts itself on the global stage and rallies like-minded nations against the revisionists.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 18 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreordain
Verb
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Yet he was not destined for professional life, certainly not in the cotton business that attracted talented young Greeks.—
Gregory Jusdanis,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
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But that, of course, was not the only place made-in-China iPhones were destined.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Plant churches do not require a centralized governing body to ordain their founding.—
Samuel Perry,
The Conversation,
20 June 2025
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Although it’s been ordaining openly gay ministers since the 1970s, UCC isn’t the only church opening its doors to LGBTQ+ worshippers.—
Matt Alderton,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
Verb
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When the cost and time differential is so vast, the legacy approach is doomed.—
Dr. Jonathan Reichental,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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Maybe things would have turned out differently if the team was in Hartford all along, but any efforts, no matter how sincere, to make that happen now were doomed.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
3 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The themes this eclipse brings, celebrity astrologer Kyle Thomas tells PEOPLE, could become more prominent (or fated and destined) in the months to come.—
Victoria Edel,
People.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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This prompted many Wall Street analysts to revise their opinions on the impact of Trump’s tariff regime on the economy, and on whether the economy is fated for a stagflationary mix of high inflation and low growth, a stock-market correction, or even a recession.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Foreordain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreordain. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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