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.
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Recent Examples of portending
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portending
Verb
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AccuWeather is predicting the number of 90-degree days to be near or above the historical average in Boston, Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
16 May 2026
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Each week since the season began in August, four of us — an algorithm, a guest subscriber on rotation, Wilfred and I — have been predicting the Premier League results with varying degrees of success.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Verb
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But Netanyahu’s coalition, supported by ultra-Orthodox parties, has tapped only small numbers of willing men, and has been promising to advance a bill—one opposed by more than four-fifths of Israelis—that would supersede the court’s ruling.—
Bernard Avishai,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
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By Carmen Arroyo, Bloomberg Elon Musk’s xAI asked employees earlier this year to offer up their own tax returns as training data for the company’s Grok chatbot, promising a $420 payment as incentive for doing so.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Since 2022, Russia has dropped thousands of mines across the Black Sea, presaging Iran's Hormuz blockade by using underwater explosives to deter vessels from docking in Ukraine's Black Sea ports.—
Aidan Stretch,
CBS News,
29 Apr. 2026
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Experts are already warning that there may not be enough fertilizer for the next harvest season, presaging lower yields and higher prices.—
Judd Devermont,
semafor.com,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Packers won their fourth Super Bowl, and Rodgers earned two of his four MVPs with McCarthy calling the plays.—
Will Graves,
Chicago Tribune,
17 May 2026
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Cassidy, a medical doctor, has broken with the HHS secretary on multiple occasions, including slamming a change to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule for infants and calling for the postponement of key vaccine advisory panel meetings.—
Kaia Hubbard,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
Verb
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There was no obvious precipitating event, but the encroachment of Grok seemed foreboding.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
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The windowless hallways are narrow in the federal building that houses this immigration court, and the agents’ stocky bodies are foreboding in the tight corridors.—
Catherine E. Shoichet,
CNN Money,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
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This establishes that hyperscale AI infrastructure is now being built at utility scale, boding well for companies like Broadcom that offer both custom chips and rack-scale networking solutions.—
TipRanks.com Staff,
CNBC,
19 Apr. 2026
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While traders are trying to cash in on the rally, geopolitical uncertainty persists, boding well for gold prices.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Guardian similarly noted more than a dozen $100,000 bets on prediction markets foretelling the February air strikes on Iran, while The New York Times last month reported 150 bets of $1,000 or more predicting the start of the war.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
21 Apr. 2026
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The stories foretelling McGonigle’s talents are numerous.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Millar, however, noted that a gauge of wholesale costs rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, auguring a further rise in consumer prices.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portending. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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