as in predicted
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 portended
Martin County’s anti-development history portended a quick and certain rejection by the county commission.
—
Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portended
Verb
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Tom Chittum, a former ATF Associate Deputy Director had predicted the single shot fired at Kirk indicated a bolt action rifle was used.—
Will Carless,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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Primordial black holes, meanwhile, are theorized to be much more diminutive than even stellar mass black holes, with masses predicted to be anywhere from that of giant planets down to average-sized asteroids.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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On Monday, the company promised huge upgrades after acquiring radio spectrum for BoostMobile’s parent, EchoStar, in a $17 billion deal to bolster the satellite network’s throughput.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
11 Sep. 2025
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Undergraduate institutions have long promised America’s young people opportunities to learn in cloistered conditions that are deliberately curated, anachronistic, and unrepresentative of work and life outside the quad.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Viral marketing tactics, coupled with strong social media word-of-mouth, boded well for both films’ success, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the data firm Comscore.—
Itzel Luna,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Advertisement Now, in The Pitt, his character is mentoring other young doctors—so much so that the estate of ER creator Michael Crichton has called The Pitt an ER-spinoff.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
15 Sep. 2025
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A week after suffering a gut-punch loss to Nevada in Reno when two winning touchdowns were called back in the final moment and a tying field goal with seconds to play just missed, Sac State shook off early jitters to unleash a balanced offense in improving to 1-2.—
Joe Davidson,
Sacbee.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Her attraction to coloring books presaged her minimal style.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
8 Sep. 2025
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Keane, though, sees nothing but disaster ahead, a portent presaged by some of the film’s most enduring images, like a stretch limo with a flat tire and a steam room littered with empty champagne bottles.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Todd's second-ever screen role foretold his future prominence, as the taciturn Sgt.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Husseini attempted to ply him with patronage, appointing him imam of a new mosque, but the cleric’s burgeoning following augured poorly for Husseini’s grip on power.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Philosophers once prophesied that evolution would lead to minds far greater — and stranger — than our own.—
Thomas Moynihan,
Big Think,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portended.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portended. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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