as in to foreshadow
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the first crocus traditionally prefigures the arrival of spring
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Recent Examples of prefigure
Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.
—
Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
And another is how aspects of our future may be prefigured in the desert’s past.
—Literary Hub, 3 Oct. 2025
Andersen’s story may have prefigured this moment, although no major actor in the war wants to be the boy.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
This early embrace of mechanical rhythm prefigured what would later become a foundation of hip-hop and electronic music.
—Jose Valentino Ruiz, The Conversation, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
And another is how aspects of our future may be prefigured in the desert’s past.
—Literary Hub, 3 Oct. 2025
Andersen’s story may have prefigured this moment, although no major actor in the war wants to be the boy.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
This early embrace of mechanical rhythm prefigured what would later become a foundation of hip-hop and electronic music.
—Jose Valentino Ruiz, The Conversation, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefigure
Verb
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Francesca is visibly flustered in Michaela’s presence, foreshadowing a future connection.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
30 Jan. 2026
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Analysts are now looking to see further evidence of Apple's AI strategy, strong iPhone 17 demand that was foreshadowed in the previous quarter's results and whether memory costs are actually affecting its gross margins.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Next, the researchers aim to improve their technique further, with the goal of predicting not only when solar activity will intensify, but also where on the sun’s surface active regions are likely to form.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Feb. 2026
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The team predicts that, within five years, blood tests for early Parkinson’s diagnoses could become more common within clinical practice.—
Angelica Stabile,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Those covers may imply genres, but better book covers are based on concepts that reflect the content of the book and signal it to the consumer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
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The Institute for Postnatural Studies does not aim to conform to the dictates of traditional academia, as its name might imply.—
Catherine Taft,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Carnation Revolution, which heralded Portugual’s transition to democracy, and the euphoria of freedom belong to the past.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2026
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Google’s scam detection was the driver behind the Android-maker’s safer-than-iPhone campaign that heralded Android’s lead in protecting users from malicious calls and text messages.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For reasons that don’t bear going into here, this turned into a bigger fight than anyone anticipated.—
Maya Singer,
Vogue,
1 Feb. 2026
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Nobody could have anticipated that the profound affection Neihardt shared with his wife—later described by biographers as one of the great love stories in American letters—would converge with his work on Black Elk and culminate in one of the most exotic cases in the history of psychical research.—
Shannon Taggart,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prefigure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefigure. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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