as in to predict
formal + literary
to be a sign or warning that something usually bad or unpleasant is going to happen
The distant thunder portended a storm. If you're superstitious, a black cat portends trouble.
Related Words
Relevance
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 portend
Smart, 50, received raises in 2022 and 2024, a cycle that could portend another salary increase this spring.
—
Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Iran’s stockpiling of missiles portends wars of attrition, like the current one, in which each side tries to wear the other down.
—Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
Still, al-Sharaa’s promises to the Kurds portend a brighter future than Syria has ever seen for Kurdish rights.
—Lily Hindy, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2026
But the past few months have seen a flurry of events that portend a very different 60 Minutes in the not-too-distant future.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for portend
Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Iran’s stockpiling of missiles portends wars of attrition, like the current one, in which each side tries to wear the other down.
—Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
Still, al-Sharaa’s promises to the Kurds portend a brighter future than Syria has ever seen for Kurdish rights.
—Lily Hindy, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2026
But the past few months have seen a flurry of events that portend a very different 60 Minutes in the not-too-distant future.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
-
Zeisler predicted that many more entrepreneurs like Chorney will have similar ambitions going forward.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
-
The principle holds that neural systems are driven to predict their environment.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The grandiose space’s massive stage and high-caliber lighting rigs promise extravagant parties and ceremonies that will light up the city’s social calendar.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
-
In 1995, the owner of the Raiders, Al Davis, was offered about two hundred million dollars in public loans to move the team from Los Angeles back to its previous home in Oakland; when the team moved to Las Vegas, three decades later, it was promised nearly triple that amount.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Three threes in a row don’t bode well.—
Agnieszka Szpila,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
That would seem to bode well for him with the Masters next on the horizon.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The civil rights investigations could presage a lawsuit or lead to a loss of federal funding — which medical schools are particularly reliant on.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Tehran has become a direct threat to Gulf national security, a transformation that may presage more military confrontation, economic uncertainty, and less space for regional cooperation, Amr Hamzawy, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes in Foreign Affairs.—
Hadley Gamble,
semafor.com,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The main restaurant is an American brasserie called Lex Yard, led by chef-partner Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, another New York institution.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Health experts have called for new laws and better enforcement of existing regulations, and officials in many places are taking action.—
Sarah Raza,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Their four-volume distillation of all aspects of the Pittsburgh economy foretold the decline the region would face due to the shifting economic geography of the steel industry and Pittsburgh’s extreme lack of industrial diversification – things local leaders commonly saw as strengths.—
Christopher Briem,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
-
But as the season begins, the models cannot foretell which players will get hurt, which will get traded, which pitchers will alter their mixes, which hitters will develop new approaches or swings.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
There was no obvious precipitating event, but the encroachment of Grok seemed foreboding.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
-
The windowless hallways are narrow in the federal building that houses this immigration court, and the agents’ stocky bodies are foreboding in the tight corridors.—
Catherine E. Shoichet,
CNN Money,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The broader picture augurs well for the Israeli home front.—
Michael M. Rosen,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
-
And that really augurs the potential for severe and prolonged enduring instability in this region.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
