as in forerunners
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 heralds
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 harbingers
Big Think, 13 Oct. 2025
One of the most worrisome harbingers of future affordability is that Florida added more than 700,000 units with gross rents higher than $1,200 monthly between 2012 and 2022.
—Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
These could be harbingers of bigger things to come.
—Big Think, 13 Oct. 2025
One of the most worrisome harbingers of future affordability is that Florida added more than 700,000 units with gross rents higher than $1,200 monthly between 2012 and 2022.
—Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harbingers
Noun
-
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.—
Benjamin Nathans
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The re-release also heralds the studio’s shift into the short film space.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
15 Oct. 2025
-
San Saba heralds itself as the Pecan Capital of the World.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The beans are typically piled in wooden boxes or baskets, in which bacteria and fungi break down the beans’ pulpy coating, producing chemicals that generate flavor precursors within the beans.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
18 Oct. 2025
-
By the late 2010s, the precursors of ChatGPT, Gemini, and DALL-E were spluttering to life, making real the future that the Army had envisioned in World War II.—
Angus Fletcher,
Big Think,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Opening with ominous footage of electrical towers and power lines trembling in high winds, the film swiftly foreshadows the disaster with drone shots of small towns surrounded by miles of forest.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Dido’s wonderfully operatic dying curse on her former lover foreshadows the future wars between her people and the descendants of the treacherous Trojans.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 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
-
Earlier images of the Sichuan showed the catapult covers removed and a radar array installed, signs that the vessel was nearing sea trial readiness.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
When combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning, these tools created in NASA labs will strengthen wildfire prevention and firefighting efforts, Cwik predicts.—
Michele Raphael,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
-
The National Weather Service predicts a chance of showers in the days leading up to the holiday.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Exposure to the nuts can trigger a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock, which can cause serious, life-threatening symptoms like difficulty breathing, according to Mayo Clinic.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
-
The condition presents differently in each individual, but common symptoms include fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cognitive difficulties, skin rashes, and diarrhea, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
More than monetary value, the word implies an ease in every facet of life, from the ability to pursue one’s own passions to a harmony with the environment, both physical and communal.—
Robb Report Studio,
Robb Report,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Although, given the BPU is owned by the Unified Government, state statute vaguely implies that may not be allowed to happen.—
Sofi Zeman
October 23,
Kansas City Star,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harbingers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harbingers. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share