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
Residents near Hereford House who spied the visitors that morning may have wondered what their arrival portended for the town.
—
Longreads, 5 Mar. 2026
For the first four laps of the final race in the men’s speedskating team pursuit, with Lehman in the middle of a trio of Americans who arrived in Milan with the solitary goal of winning gold, Team USA held a growing lead that portended the sort of finish Lehman and his teammates envisioned.
—Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
That loss portended woe for Winnipeg, beginning its freefall.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
And Smith was certain that these two short plays portended a great future for the twenty-year-old in the dramatic arts.
—Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
Martin County’s anti-development history portended a quick and certain rejection by the county commission.
—Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Longreads, 5 Mar. 2026
For the first four laps of the final race in the men’s speedskating team pursuit, with Lehman in the middle of a trio of Americans who arrived in Milan with the solitary goal of winning gold, Team USA held a growing lead that portended the sort of finish Lehman and his teammates envisioned.
—Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
That loss portended woe for Winnipeg, beginning its freefall.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
And Smith was certain that these two short plays portended a great future for the twenty-year-old in the dramatic arts.
—Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
Martin County’s anti-development history portended a quick and certain rejection by the county commission.
—Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portended
Verb
-
The storms are predicted to bring quarter-sized hail (1 inch).—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Just like not so long ago no one would have predicted a Kansan would play in the World Cup.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Specifically, McKenzie had become obsessed with cryptocurrency — the online infrastructure of alternative forms of money backed by a system of computer code that promised to revolutionize the world, or, failing that, make a lot of people very rich.—
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Chimney Rock, North Carolina — Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, promised Tuesday that DHS employees affected by the ongoing government shutdown can expect to receive paychecks by the end of the week.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That boded well for a 2008 conversation at Seiller's home.—
Amanda Hancock,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Last year’s first-round pick, defensive tackle Kenneth Grant and second-round pick, guard Jonah Savaiinaea, along with a slew of late-round finds, can get a full offseason of development, which boded well for Paul going into his second season.—
David Furones,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Named for the Kiawah people who called this island home when British settlers first arrived in 1670, Kiawah Island fronts the Atlantic with ten miles of beach.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Iranian officials have rejected plans for a temporary ceasefire and have instead called for a permanent end to the conflict.—
Hugh Leask,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Those events presaged the 2026 Iran war, in which Israel and the United States launched a large-scale operation against Iran’s military infrastructure and senior leadership.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
25 Mar. 2026
-
His first bitter taste of the majors presaged many more setbacks to come.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But before Othership and Akari Sauna, the 1970 film Deep End foretold this trend in a much creepier and surrealist manner.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
28 Mar. 2026
-
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
Verb
-
This is a massive shift from late last year, when talk of an AI bubble augured capital expenditures that would come back to bite tech companies when token demand plummeted.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
1 Apr. 2026
-
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
Verb
-
In his autobiography, Wright discusses how his mother prophesied his future as an architect, decorating his nursery with buildings to encourage this development.—
Carrie Hojnicki,
Architectural Digest,
20 Feb. 2026
-
People were told that artificial intelligence was the final asteroid in the extinction event prophesied by Trevor Horn, and further told that generative models and algorithmic composition would democratize creation until value ceased to exist.—
William Jones,
Miami Herald,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Portended.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portended. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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