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.
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Recent Examples of portend
The season ends on a cliffhanger, a choice that’s both frustrating but at least portends a seemingly inevitable second installment that can elaborate on what’s initially left bare bones.
—
Alison Herman, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
His past failures won’t necessarily portend future ones, particularly given his work this past year.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Such questions don't necessarily portend the outcome of the case and may merely reflect justices testing the limits and weaknesses of arguments.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025
Google believes Gemini's ability to perform well in these kinds of advanced academic competitions portends AI's future in industries like semiconductor engineering and biotechnology.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portend
Alison Herman, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
His past failures won’t necessarily portend future ones, particularly given his work this past year.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Such questions don't necessarily portend the outcome of the case and may merely reflect justices testing the limits and weaknesses of arguments.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025
Google believes Gemini's ability to perform well in these kinds of advanced academic competitions portends AI's future in industries like semiconductor engineering and biotechnology.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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China has agreed to allow the export of chips critical to auto production, averting widespread shutdowns that had been predicted by the industry.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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Due to these supply challenges of the Thanksgiving birds, AFBF predicts turkey prices will be up 40 percent from 2024.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Both candidates have bemoaned the state's high cost of living and surging energy prices, with Ciattarelli vowing to lower New Jersey's high property taxes and Sherrill promising to freeze electricity bills.—
Joe Hernandez,
NPR,
5 Nov. 2025
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Campaign ads, showing images of flash-mob robberies, promised voters that harsher penalties would put an end to basic items being locked away in display cases and funnel people repeatedly arrested for drug offenses in treatment.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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That doesn’t bode well for Tagovailoa, especially with backup tight ends Greg Dulcich and Tanner Conner in line for more snaps due to Darren Waller’s pectoral injury.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
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Martha Stewart Signature Comfort Stretch Boxy Modern Top The knit layer is made from a slightly stretchy material that is comfortable enough to wear while relaxing at home, but the boxy design adds structure that bodes well for brunch plans or running errands.—
Rachel Trujillo,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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One of Redford’s last screen roles, which presaged his retirement from acting in 2018, was as the career criminal Forrest Tucker in David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun.—
K. Austin Collins,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
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Local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning at Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens, the new sanctuary honoring pathbreaking sculptor Alexander Calder, presaging its opening to the public, which is set for September 21.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But at this point, desperate times call for desperate measures, and that’s where this two win team is.—
Omar Kelly
Updated October 31,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
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Crowdsourced review website Yelp called on to its elite members to rank the best places to get chocolate treats in the United States, and the reviews say one of the top spots is in Kansas City.—
Joseph Hernandez,
Kansas City Star,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The minute that happened, Farm Bank’s collapse was foretold.—
Moisés Naím,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
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Those are the conclusions of two recent reports about spiraling utility bills, one looking at the past, the other foretelling the future.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Despite the seemingly sweet resolution to their storyline (and an ostensibly upbeat last line of dialogue), there’s a strange undercurrent to the Nagisa and Natsuo segment that suggests foreboding as much as potential happiness — a mysterious tension befitting the creator that Miyake is adapting.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
17 Aug. 2025
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With the third season of The White Lotus well underway—and its signature sense of foreboding steadily mounting—cast member Michelle Monaghan was in anything but ominous spirits last night at The Mark Hotel.—
Laura Neilson,
Vogue,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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That may sound like a funny thing to say, in 2025, or in any year since the legendary rock singer-songwriter died in 2003, given a perennial underdog status that never augured for anything that would be likely to be called a posthumous groundswell, per se.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Oct. 2025
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Vegas has struggled on offense but rookie RB Ashton Jeanty’s breakout game last week augurs well.—
Greg Cote
October 2,
Miami Herald,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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