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

fortune-telling 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of fortune-tellingnext
as in predicting

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

fortune-telling

2 of 2

noun

as in divination

Related Words

Dissimilar 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 fortune-telling
Adjective
Thoughts of all the beautiful, mundane, familiar things that make life so sweet had turned sour in my ominous fortune-telling. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fortune-telling
  1. wondrous
  2. divination
  3. soothsaying
  4. forecasting
  5. divining
  6. foretelling
  7. predicting
Adjective
  • These people were beautiful, thoughtful, wondrous creatures, capable of depth and consciousness and profound beauty.
    — Danielle Pergament, Allure, 29 Sep. 2026
  • This time, eager to be more creative and wondrous with my Airbnb selections.
    — Sara Sturek, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of wondrous
Noun
  • Oracles, prophets and practices of divination offered guidance from inscrutable or enigmatic sources when ordinary human judgment reached its limits.
    — Ambuj Tewari, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Kylie’s divinations lead her to a small English town called Thornfield.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of divination
Noun
  • While psychic readers have storefronts in other parts of the city, this change applies to the Community Business and Boulevard Business zoning districts, which previously did not permit soothsaying.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
  • That is to say, it was preceded by soothsayings of unparalleled gloom, which faded at the first kick of a ball.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Definition of soothsaying
Noun
  • Rising logistics costs, shrinking margins and persistent supply chain volatility, in particular, are pushing leaders toward agentic AI and machine learning for demand forecasting and inventory placement.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The same data will support future reports and financial forecasting.
    — Wesley D. Snow, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of forecasting
Noun
  • Practice divining with an obsidian mirror.
    — Sandra Cisneros, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
  • Astronauts could, in principle, descend into the treacherously dark and cold craters to look for themselves, but most of this water divining will be conducting by robots.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of divining
Noun
  • In the wake of Friday’s abysmal jobs report , investors are scrambling to understand whether the loss of 92,000 jobs in February was a blip or a foretelling of more payroll cuts to come as t he adoption of AI by corporations increases .
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 8 Mar. 2026
Definition of foretelling
Noun
  • With the 2025 college football season on the horizon, months of previewing and predicting soon will be in the rearview mirror.
    — Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 8 Aug. 2025
Definition of predicting

Browse Nearby Words

fortune-tellers
fortune-telling
fortune-tellings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fortune-telling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fortune-telling. Accessed 2 Oct. 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 heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All