as in herald
one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another
her father's successful job interview was seen as a harbinger of better times to come
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to herald
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the hope that the housing slump does not harbinger a general economic recession
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 harbinger
Via Scribner, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
That Sutton whipped out his limbs like Stretch Armstrong and hauled in the dart for a modest 5-yard gain seemed only like a harbinger in hindsight.
—Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
Attendees were met at the entrance of the venue in Paris’ 14th district with a yellow and red Ellsworth Kelly painting, a harbinger of the pair’s colorful debut.
—Alex Wynne, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
One harbinger of this is the fact that many of the contestants who star in this season of the show are either cringe, mean, or both.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harbinger
Noun
At this early point, Stein was already setting herself up as a kind of Cassandra, harbinger of a significant message yet doomed to be misunderstood and ignored.
—Via Scribner, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
That Sutton whipped out his limbs like Stretch Armstrong and hauled in the dart for a modest 5-yard gain seemed only like a harbinger in hindsight.
—Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
Attendees were met at the entrance of the venue in Paris’ 14th district with a yellow and red Ellsworth Kelly painting, a harbinger of the pair’s colorful debut.
—Alex Wynne, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
One harbinger of this is the fact that many of the contestants who star in this season of the show are either cringe, mean, or both.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harbinger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harbinger
Noun
-
The indie feature heralds from Benacus Entertainment and RNF Productions.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma put down the supe uprising, but then psychotic fascist Homelander showed up to condemn them as villains and herald the murderous Cate and Sam as top students and potential recruits for the thoroughly corrupt Seven.—
EW Staff,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Bacon takes his time getting to the fateful voyage; there are myriad sidebars of varying interest on topics such as Great Lakes shipping and the rise of taconite, two lake wrecks that foreshadowed the Fitz, even the sailors’ favorite watering holes.—
Kevin Duchschere,
Boston Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
-
The deployment of a carrier strike group represents a significant escalation in that campaign and could foreshadow the beginning of airstrikes against targets in Venezuela.—
Davis Winkie,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The investor and industrialist Andrew Mellon enjoyed a lengthy tenure as Treasury secretary—a forerunner to Trump’s Treasury appointees, Steven Mnuchin and Scott Bessent, both of them recruited straight from Wall Street.—
Evan Hughes,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Half of those tested had osteoporosis or a forerunner condition, osteopenia.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Those who predicted a doomed future for all of humanity called us addicts and criminals, leeches and slime (and way worse things) because we were detested, shouted at, dragged by our arms across bedrooms and public sporting events.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Despite what the students view as anti-conservative bias, one predicted a conservative uprising, citing the assassination of Charlie Kirk as fuel for more right-leaning college students to speak out.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
This monster is the precursor to slasher villains like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, who lumber along on their killing sprees, though this blueprint is far more sympathetic.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
-
It is then converted into acetic acid, a key methane precursor.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
And pretty much all of the data suffer from the reality that, as any stats teacher will remind you, correlation does not necessarily imply causation.—
Stephanie H. Murray,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Morgan Stanley's 12-month price target of $800 implies 18% upside.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Stephens said there were signs of a struggle, and Thomas' body had been dragged about 180 feet into the woods.—
Bill Bowden,
Arkansas Online,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Perri told him that was a sign of his brain rewiring.—
Rustin Dodd,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
These opulent volumes prefigure the label’s high jewelry offering.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.—
Lula Konner,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harbinger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harbinger. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share