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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With this year's costumes trend predicted to be pop culture-heavy, obvious duo costumes, like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, come to mind.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
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Heading into the seven-game series opener, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon predicted the Aces’ bench could be a potential separator between the opponents.—
Ben Pickman,
New York Times,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Lawmakers have promised that schools and local governments, which receive a large share of the sales tax revenue the state collects, will be held harmless by the shift.—
Paul Egan,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
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Humphrey and his command staff are working with Effective Law Enforcement For All (ELEFA), the group recently chosen by city officials as the independent monitor to oversee changes promised for the department.—
Monroe Trombly,
Louisville Courier Journal,
2 Oct. 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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The divisions included endurance and sports race cars, supercars, flat track motorcycles, sprint cars, drift cars, vintage IndyCars, NASCAR, ASF Cup cars (American Speed Festival) and a new group called LROC (Ladies Race of Champions).—
Keenan Thompson,
Freep.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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Right tackle Trey Pipkins III was called for holding.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
6 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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Her attraction to coloring books presaged her minimal style.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
8 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 8 Oct. 2025.
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