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
Brian now realizes that the pilot’s loss of sphincter control portends not a momentary breakdown of bodily integrity but death.
—
Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
As with the Dred Scott decision that preceded the Civil War, such a blatantly undemocratic move portends some great cataclysm.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
The acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery, cost savings from artificial intelligence and an increasing focus on growing the streaming and studio assets portend well for the company's stock, the bank argued.
—Davis Giangiulio,lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Anything below 50% favorability portends political trouble; right now Trump’s positive standing in polls hovers around a dismal 40%.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for portend
Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
As with the Dred Scott decision that preceded the Civil War, such a blatantly undemocratic move portends some great cataclysm.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
The acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery, cost savings from artificial intelligence and an increasing focus on growing the streaming and studio assets portend well for the company's stock, the bank argued.
—Davis Giangiulio,lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Anything below 50% favorability portends political trouble; right now Trump’s positive standing in polls hovers around a dismal 40%.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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But if the ongoing investigation shows that there were more – 100 or even 200 deaths by late May – the modeling predicts a much higher likelihood of this growing into a massive outbreak.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
6 June 2026
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Highly capable professionals often spend enormous amounts of energy replaying conversations, second-guessing decisions, and trying to predict how others interpreted their behavior.—
Dr. Diane Hamilton,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Verb
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Find beauty in the ephemeral, and gratitude in what is not promised, and always invest in the people that want to see you blossom.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
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Though there are still many unknowns regarding the full effect of ayahuasca on the human experience, if my own is any indication, the mental and emotional gates this plant can open seem promising.—
Michaela Trimble,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
Verb
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That bodes well for fans who want to hear the oldies on the Cure’s upcoming tour of Europe.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
6 June 2026
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Those combinations bode well for a guy defensively.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
5 June 2026
Verb
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Hutchinson also described a family history of mental health struggles that presaged his own decline at UC Davis in the months before the killings.—
Darrell Smith
May 28,
Sacbee.com,
28 May 2026
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Andy Cohen was lost to the wormhole, presaging more losses to come.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
22 May 2026
Verb
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One, a pediatric ER doctor, wrapped his arm in a makeshift tourniquet and stuffed the wound to staunch the bleeding while others called for help.—
Los Angeles Times,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2026
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The novel was initially ignored, and then—after Graham Greene called it one of the best books of the year—dismissed, and then banned, first in the UK and then in France.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 June 2026
Verb
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But the drama here feels too diagrammatic, foretelling a tragic fate from the first scene onward as everyone parties down like their lives depend on it.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2026
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What that foretells for keeping that split career ongoing into the future remains to be told.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Verb
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There was no obvious precipitating event, but the encroachment of Grok seemed foreboding.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
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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
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The image of James’s paper lantern, let go and floating up into the night sky like a second moon, augurs his eventual fleeing from his family.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
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The rehearsal augurs Starship’s coming test flight—its 12th—which will mark the first time the latest version of vehicle is put through its paces.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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