as in forerunner
something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event
the hero's strange encounter with a grave digger is often seen as a foreshadowing of his own death
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in predicting
to give a slight indication of beforehand
a series of small tremors that foreshadowed the massive earthquake the next day
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of foreshadowing
Mukala Kabongo, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
Vance Joseph provided a bit of foreshadowing earlier this month.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2025
Judy Berman, Time, 23 Feb. 2026
Francesca is visibly flustered in Michaela’s presence, foreshadowing a future connection.
—Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for foreshadowing
Noun
With Division 1 being wide open this season, this early-season matchup is a possible foreshadowing of a postseason matchup.
—Mukala Kabongo, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
Vance Joseph provided a bit of foreshadowing earlier this month.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2025
Verb
The episode generates suspense by foreshadowing a second existential threat—one that intriguingly complicates Sinatra’s motivations with regard to power siphoning.
—Judy Berman, Time, 23 Feb. 2026
Francesca is visibly flustered in Michaela’s presence, foreshadowing a future connection.
—Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for foreshadowing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreshadowing
Noun
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Also like its forerunner, HBO’s latest ends each episode at a moment of peak tension.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
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These were the forerunners of today’s robots.—
Munis Raza,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Each week since the season began in August, four of us — young Wilfred, a guest subscriber on rotation, an algorithm and I — have been predicting the Premier League scores with varying degrees of success.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
21 Mar. 2026
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Legendary Asian filmmaker Peter Chan Ho-sun issued a stark warning about artificial intelligence at a Hong Kong FilMart co-production panel, predicting that the technology poses an existential threat not to art-house cinema but to the commercial blockbuster.—
Marcus Lim,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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And further out in the disk, the astronomers have spotted a third, smaller break in the material—a tantalizing hint that matter there may have already collapsed into a planet closer to Saturn’s size.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
24 Mar. 2026
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Following this discovery, astronomers found hints of an additional object closer to WISPIT 2, confirming this to be a planet using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the VLT Interferometer (VLTI).—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Nanjiani steered the audience through the tie in the Live-Action Short category as calmly and confidently as a pilot navigating turbulence, and in the process probably bumped up his stock as a host for the precursor circuit.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
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Online reaction to the latest cease-and-desist letter sent to Campbell largely questioned why Kirk and TPUSA have not filed suit instead of issuing multiple letters, which are typically seen as a precursor to litigation.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In a response posted to social media, Kennedy hit back at the pediatrics academy's criticism, implying that corporate pharmaceutical funders influenced the organization's views.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
22 Mar. 2026
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Futures market pricing is implying almost no chance of a rate cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch gauge.—
Jessica Dickler,
CNBC,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That seemed a portent of more to come as the June primary inches ever closer.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2026
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That seemed a portent of more to come as the June primary inches ever closer.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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After years of prediction that time crystals could exist in the real world too, scientists made the first-ever time crystal nearly a decade ago and have found several types of time crystals each with unique properties that could be used for different applications.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Mar. 2026
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The rise of prediction markets — which MLB has decided to embrace — has added more fuel to the fire.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
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That same day, Robert Walters, former chair of the Dallas Citizens Council, a prominent business group, emailed Tolbert a list of questions anticipating a potential City Hall move.—
Nick Wooten,
Dallas Morning News,
17 Mar. 2026
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Schumacher said understanding why this winter was so warm in the West, as well as studying the heat wave, is crucial to better anticipating what’s ahead in the West.—
Andrew Freedman,
CNN Money,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Foreshadowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreshadowing. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.
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