as in foreshadowed
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the first crocus traditionally prefigures the arrival of spring
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Recent Examples of prefigured
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
Chess by telegraph also prefigured chess played through other means of telecommunications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Dec. 2025
The dynamic prefigured the White House of Bush 43, which the Veep largely staffed, and substantially dominated.
—Karl Vick, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
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
Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Chess by telegraph also prefigured chess played through other means of telecommunications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Dec. 2025
The dynamic prefigured the White House of Bush 43, which the Veep largely staffed, and substantially dominated.
—Karl Vick, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefigured
Verb
-
The nostalgic theme was further foreshadowed when McCartney took to his social media Wednesday to post a black-and-white photo of himself believed to be from the late ’50s.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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Bartch’s exit was foreshadowed Monday when the 49ers signed guard Robert Jones, 27, to a one-year deal.—
Eric Branch,
San Francisco Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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So, too, are Mets fans, minus the blare of the trumpets that heralded another trip through the bullpen walls for Diaz.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
25 Mar. 2026
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On the left, he’s heralded as the only voice capable of seducing young men disaffected by party politics.—
Abigail Sylvor Greenberg,
Vanity Fair,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman won in the supporting category, as Peter had predicted.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Tim Brinkhof The Past In 1909, a best-selling book predicted WWI would never happen.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Congress anticipated those rising costs and debated extending the enhanced premium tax credits toward the end of last year.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Easter eggs leading to the announcement Swifties anticipated a music video would be coming sometime after the March 8 post by Taylor Nation, Swift's in-house marketing team.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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At one point Friday, futures markets implied a greater-than-even chance that the Fed could raise rates by the end of 2026, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
30 Mar. 2026
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Gerry Cardinale, the managing partner of RedBird Capital, the Ellisons’ partner in the bid, has publicly stated that foreign investment is a beneficial part of the trade and implied that the amount would be increased.—
Joseph M. Singer,
Deadline,
24 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prefigured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefigured. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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