PORTEND Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words

portend

verb

Definition of portend

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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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of portend In Nolan’s telling, his deceit and plundering portend the collapse of the Bronze Age—a foreboding warning about greedy, fading empires that feels a little too relevant. — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 16 July 2026 While China is certainly on a spectacular rise, that does not necessarily portend America's decline. — Robert Hormats, Time, 4 July 2026 That’s when digital storefronts became prominent, portending an even bigger issue in the future. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 1 July 2026 That sequence aside, Pulisic's presence energized the American attack and portended well for its next match, according to his teammates. — ABC News, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for portend

Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend

Verb

Seat counts have stopped predicting anything, which means the pricing model underneath thirty years of enterprise software is now unstable in both directions, and everybody selling it knows.

— Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Water starts rapidly flooding the house, with a creature swimming through, clearly adept at moving underwater as had been predicted.

— William Earl, Variety, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of predict

Verb

But Duff and Maroney said more action is needed and promised to introduce additional legislation in 2027 to regulate the technology, the benefits of which towns continue to debate.

— Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 6 Aug. 2026
As the team advances toward commercial deployment, the technology promises to slash power bills for data centers and factories and cut industrial carbon footprints worldwide.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of promise

Verb

The backlash to the Barbara decision presages another legal and cultural battle over the meaning of the 14th Amendment and its role in the debate over who is recognized as an American citizen, observers say.

— Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2026
Yet the book is also about the disappearance of time and places, with summer’s end presaging more permanent losses.

— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 22 June 2026

Definition of presage

Verb

At Saul's request, the witch summons what appears to be the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, who foretells Saul's death in battle — raising the question of theodicy, or why an all-powerful God would allow an apparently diabolical act to occur.

— Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Annabeth has grown to care for Percy, but like Thalia, his fate is possibly tied to a prophecy that foretells of him destroying or saving Olympus.

— Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

Definition of foretell

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

Definition of forebode

Verb

OpenAI’s report seemed to augur the very sort of disaster that IT professionals have been warning about since last year, when Anthropic’s top models began demonstrating the ability to orchestrate and automate severe cyberattacks.

— Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
Hence, Raymond James heralded a 400% explosion by 2031, and Stifel at the bottom of the range augured a 19% rise.

— Shawn Tully, Fortune, 18 July 2026