1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

foreshadowing 1 of 2

noun

fȯr-ˈsha-də-wiŋ How to pronounce foreshadowing (audio)
Definition of foreshadowingnext
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

foreshadowing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of foreshadow
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 show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of foreshadowing
Noun
Could that be some foreshadowing for later on in the episode if either of them have to make fire? — Christopher Kuhagen, jsonline.com, 20 May 2026 With Hokum’s foreshadowing of a downbeat conclusion — and considering the rest of McCarthy’s filmography — Ohm’s survival feels unlikely. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 1 May 2026
Verb
In May, Brink told Footwear News that the P400 Low was well-equipped for her style of play and that the 740 was one of her favorite off-duty shoes — perhaps foreshadowing the Malibu Melt pack that was to come. — Riley Jones, Footwear News, 25 July 2026 The word also refers, indirectly, to the story itself, foreshadowing the twists and turns to come. — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 24 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for foreshadowing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foreshadowing
  1. forerunner
  2. predicting
  3. hint
  4. prefiguring
  5. precursor
  6. implying
  7. portent
  8. anticipating
Noun
  • Dubbed the ‘American Turtle’ for its appearance, the submarine made three attempts to blow up British ships without success, but is considered the forerunner of modern submarines.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Margaret and Alice are the forerunners of Lucy and Ethel, and Shakespeare’s comedy, written expressly to entertain, gives us a sense of what an Elizabethan-era situation comedy might look like.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
Definition of forerunner
Verb
  • His point is that although LLMs, no less than chess engines and other specialist systems, are trained on a specific task—namely, predicting the next word in a text passage—that task is special.
    — George Musser, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking the war in Sudan, reported earlier that 67 bodies were pulled from the rubble, predicting that the death toll could increase as rescuers continued their search.
    — Yasir Abdallah, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of predicting
Noun
  • But the Italianate fountains at the entrance is your first hint that a resort wonderland awaits.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Sep. 2026
  • While there is no water vapor, JWST has picked up hints of solid particles of crystalline water-ice.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of hint
Verb
  • On the city’s West Side, the site of storied clubs such as Silvio’s as well as the Maxwell Street Market, blues musicians developed a style of electric blues in the 1950s that typically included a horn section (prefiguring soul music).
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Definition of prefiguring
Noun
  • Amid rising geopolitical tensions and a murky economic outlook, anxiety is clocking into work, producing false positives in productivity that look like engagement, but are actually a precursor to costly attrition and reputation loss.
    — Stacey Zolt Hara, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Nonetheless, Alford’s departure could be interpreted as a potential precursor to Norvell’s eventual replacement.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of precursor
Verb
  • Widening gap The gap between hyperscaler CDS and bank CDS has widened to around 60 basis points from roughly 0 since October of 2025, implying that hyperscaler credit risk is increasing on its own terms, Slok's research shows.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The five national title favorites plus Indiana, Oregon and Texas Tech all have minus-odds, implying each have a greater than 50 percent chance to make the CFP.
    — Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of implying
Noun
  • Another way to see the Wasian moment is less as a portent of Asians being absorbed into whiteness and more as evidence of the desire to not allow that to happen.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2026
  • His mode of reiteration and attenuation is an ominous portent for the future of fiction.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of portent
Verb
  • The greater opportunity lies in anticipating which capabilities will be needed repeatedly, where constraints may emerge and which technologies can create value in space and on Earth.
    — Shelli Brunswick, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • That remained the case late Sunday night, with a league source close to Leonard anticipating that the trade could be completed in the coming days.
    — Matt Schubert, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of anticipating

Browse Nearby Words

foreshadowers
foreshadowing
foreshadowings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Foreshadowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foreshadowing. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of elegiac

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All