1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

portends

verb

present tense third-person singular of portend
as in predicts
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

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of portends The emergence of Tolle behind them, though, is what portends best for Boston moving forward. — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 The Dallas Cowboys’ lack of faith in starting right tackle Terence Steele portends a potentially big game Sunday night for Giants top pass rusher Brian Burns. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026 The AfD’s victory in weekend German state elections portends huge change for the country, the continent, and the West more broadly. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 7 Sep. 2026 But 160 Leroy portends a future that stretches the definition of what constitutes New York living into hitherto-unknown territory. — Bridget Read, Curbed, 1 Sep. 2026 Danica Rodmarel, an attorney who has litigated against bail bond corporations in the past, said the decision portends a difficult future for the industry. — Evelyn Ronan, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026 The change marks the end of an era in fashion and portends the beginning of another one for Marc Jacobs, the man. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 18 Aug. 2026 And then there’s the Ren Faire episode, where a McPoyle brothers’ cameo portends a closing joke so distressing my innocent little brain rejected all the warnings of its arrival. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2026 Bozieva believes this approach to business portends the rise of the billion-dollar, one-person business. — Elaine Pofeldt, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portends
  1. predicts
  2. promises
  3. bodes
  4. presages
  5. calls
  6. foretells
  7. augurs
  8. reads
Verb
  • By 2028, Gartner predicts that 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI, up from less than 1% in 2024.
    — Bryan Goode, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026
  • In Miami-Dade, the budget office predicts a 20% overall reduction in property taxes — with a loss of about $700 million by the time Amendment 3 is fully enacted in 2028.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of predicts
Verb
  • Monologue Brunson promises that tonight will be like the Knicks finals games.
    — Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2026
  • One resident of the Icon warned commissioners that promises made by Griffin could change once the helipad is built.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of promises
Verb
  • That bodes extremely well for plane spotting out in broad daylight this summer.
    — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 27 June 2026
  • The Obama Presidential Center opening June 18 also bodes well for tourism, both in burnishing the city’s image and creating a new attraction to draw domestic and international visitors to Chicago, Reynolds said.
    — Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026
Definition of bodes
Verb
  • Charlie Kirk's family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative activist's assassination at a state university, in a wrongful death notice announced Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The backlash to the Barbara decision presages another legal and cultural battle over the meaning of the 14th Amendment and its role in the debate over who is recognized as an American citizen, observers say.
    — Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2026
Definition of presages
Verb
  • Michael the Lawyer and Ben the Barrel Racer go into the third crypt (Alan calls them gay Lara Crofts) and have the option of grabbing $15,000 in gold or $5,000 and a clue about the Traitors.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
  • One of the novel’s sharpest scenes comes when Ellen calls and Ruby, hearing urgency in her voice, runs automatically through the house to find better signal.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of calls
Verb
  • At Saul's request, the witch summons what appears to be the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, who foretells Saul's death in battle — raising the question of theodicy, or why an all-powerful God would allow an apparently diabolical act to occur.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
  • Annabeth has grown to care for Percy, but like Thalia, his fate is possibly tied to a prophecy that foretells of him destroying or saving Olympus.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of foretells
Verb
  • Pintscher, who will succeed current music director Jaime Martín beginning in 2027-28 season, augurs a new era for LACO.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In the film’s ferocious climax, Jim is shot but escapes with Selena and Hannah, and the story closes (28 days later) back in the countryside as a jet flies over and augurs their rescue.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 24 June 2026
Definition of augurs
Verb
  • Vagueness reads as concealment even when nothing is being concealed.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The camera system reads and logs passing vehicle license plate numbers, time of day, date and location for a period of 30 days before the system ultimately purges the data, Oakley said.
    — Claire Murphy, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of reads

Browse Nearby Words

portending
portends
portent
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Portends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portends. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of argot

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All