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

Campaigns have kicked off for elections that will be held in four months time and the subsidy debate has returned to the table, portending fresh uncertainty for businesses. — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2026

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