Synonyms of portending

portending

verb

present participle of portend

as in predicting

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.

Related Words

• predicting
• promising
• presaging
• calling
• foreboding
• boding
• foretelling
• auguring
• alerting
• forecasting
• prophesying
• reading
• warning
• prognosticating
• anticipating
• foreseeing
• cautioning
• announcing
• forewarning
• divining
• heralding
• proclaiming
• vaticinating
• declaring
• foreknowing

Dissimilar Words

• relating
• describing
• reporting
• telling
• recounting
• reciting
• narrating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of portending

That’s when digital storefronts became prominent, portending an even bigger issue in the future. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 1 July 2026

For West, who is a storm chaser, snow in the South would be a rare and sacred gift, one that the weekend storm was portending to produce throughout the region. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2026

Rams general manager Les Snead sent two first-round picks, two second-round picks and two third-round picks to the Tennessee Titans, portending a swing-for-the-fences mentality in trades that would lead to the Rams going seven years without making another first-round pick. — Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026

The bad omens came early at this year’s Burning Man — the infamously wild, weeklong celebration of art, music, and unrestrained self-expression held at the end of every summer in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert — portending a particularly extra-ordinary burn. — Denver Nicks, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2025