preordained 1 of 2

Definition of preordainednext

preordained

2 of 2

verb

past tense of preordain

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 preordained
Verb
Will this year’s Oscar awards be another fait accompli, a bloated snoozer that’s as boring and seemingly preordained as this year’s Super Bowl? Randy Myers, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026 Some might assume that Gooding’s Hollywood career was preordained. Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 3 Mar. 2026 Sports are inherently fraught with tension, but some seem preordained to it more than others. Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026 And there again Tuesday morning stood those four teams in the current East play-in bracket, as if preordained to have to fight their way into the playoffs through the pre-playoffs. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 27 Jan. 2026 The forward march of East Asian animation from pop celebration to prestige recognition is not preordained. Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 15 Jan. 2026 But 36–23 still taunts and tantalizes us, a magical missing score that reminds every Scorigami devotee that what’s possible isn’t preordained. Josh Levin, The Atlantic, 5 Dec. 2025 Fans may respond as if the song is preordained; the results of the storyline are not. Tom Roland, Billboard, 12 Nov. 2025 No team in history has won between 38 and 40 games for four straight seasons, yet for the Bulls, this feels almost preordained. John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preordained
Verb
  • Ritter is destined to be tested by events and his colleagues in the seven weeks left before the General Assembly adjourns on May 6.
    Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Frontman Caleb Harper explained the song was left off the album but always destined to surface.
    Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The shrapnel came from an M795 round that had been paired with an M767A1 fuze, which was meant to electronically detonate the round at a predetermined point, the report said.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Here, the post-death period is not the end of all possibilities or a predetermined failure, but another opportunity for liberation in the next life.
    Jue Liang, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • The oaks came down, the broad sidewalks receded, the bricks were replaced by asphalt and Tropical Arts was doomed.
    Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2026
  • The Daddy Issue Oscars This year’s big nominees are full of anxieties about fatherhood and whether we’re doomed to repeat the mistakes of those who’ve raised us.
    Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • What unfolds next is both foreordained and unpredictable: a performance superficially the same as any other rendition of the same score, but also profoundly different — wondrous, perhaps, or merely rote.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024
  • The film is a tragedy in which everything comes out right: Coppola builds his protagonist’s absurd overreach into a foreordained happy ending, and the movie itself is a happy outcome from the very start.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2024
Verb
  • Fisher grew up at Beth Am and even trained to be a rabbi there before becoming ordained.
    Lauren Costantino March 14, Miami Herald, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Detroit in 1984.
    ABC News, ABC News, 10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Christo and Jeanne-Claude disregarded all threats of legal action, directing Running Fence to complete its predestined voyage into the sea.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Be sure to cover your head and neck with your arms, and crawl under a sturdy table if possible.
    CA Earthquake Bot, Sacbee.com, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Supporters of the referendum have expressed excitement over the amenities that would come with the possible Frontier Sports Complex activity center while opponents have expressed concerns over a potential financial burden the referendum would impose.
    Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Adebayo upgraded In the wake of being held out in Charlotte due to tightness in his right calf, Adebayo on Wednesday was listed as probable to return Thursday night against the Lakers.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Quero and Lee are the probable duo to start the season.
    LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Preordained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preordained. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.

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