as in to foreshadow
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the first crocus traditionally prefigures the arrival of spring
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prefigure
That prefigured, in a much smaller and less consequential way, Iran’s own actions in blocking the Strait of Hormuz during the current crisis.
—
Ioana Emy Matesan,
The Conversation,
9 Apr. 2026
The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
—
Literary Hub,
3 Mar. 2026
The Kamm tail, with its upturned spoiler and flat panel adorned with Ferrari’s signature twin round taillights, is a nod to aerodynamics that prefigures the shape of the Lusso’s spiritual successor, the 275 GTB.
—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
16 Feb. 2026
Chess by telegraph also prefigured chess played through other means of telecommunications.
—
IEEE Spectrum,
11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Ioana Emy Matesan,
The Conversation,
9 Apr. 2026
The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
—
Literary Hub,
3 Mar. 2026
The Kamm tail, with its upturned spoiler and flat panel adorned with Ferrari’s signature twin round taillights, is a nod to aerodynamics that prefigures the shape of the Lusso’s spiritual successor, the 275 GTB.
—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
16 Feb. 2026
Chess by telegraph also prefigured chess played through other means of telecommunications.
—
IEEE Spectrum,
11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefigure
Verb
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Instead of foreshadowing the big year that establishes Palencia as an elite closer, the WBC may have added to this season’s choppiness.
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This spring, xAI struck a deal to give Cursor access to its compute infrastructure, foreshadowing similar, larger deals with Anthropic and Google in the future.
Verb
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To be clear, many predicted the team to have a solid showing, with several calling on them to make it out of the group stage.
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Which top college and international prospects do pundits predict the Mavs will target with the ninth pick?
Verb
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His focus on taming inflation implied the opposite.
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His kingdom, the gesture implied, was already full.
Verb
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off was only Mia Sara's second film role, but her Sloane Peterson has come to be heralded as one of the defining parts of her career.
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The film heralds from co-writers and co-directors Sophie Cohen and Michael Lindsay and is produced by 16oz Films in association with House of Vixens.
Verb
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But, by 2030, AI’s intelligence per watt (to reference a new metric recently introduced by Chris Re and colleagues at Stanford) will be dramatically higher, to a degree that few today are anticipating or have yet internalized.
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And traders have consistently anticipated key economic data points, like the rate of US inflation and interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve.
Cite this Entry
“Prefigure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefigure. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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