preordained 1 of 2

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
Just because there is some constraint, doesn’t mean that your path has to be preordained. Nir Bashan, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026 Whatever happened—injury, illness, flood, or drought—felt preordained, part of God’s grand scheme. The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 July 2026 Given the slow start to his pro career, a spot at the World Cup, never mind the starting nod, was far from preordained. Sean Gregory, Time, 10 June 2026 The purchase seems preordained, given that both Gert-Jan and Corinne, like Pascon and Boccara, are lively and curious intellectuals. Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026 What wasn’t preordained is just how beautifully executed the entire venture turns out to be. Greg Evans, Deadline, 7 Apr. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preordained
Adjective
  • On Thursday morning, one of the two landlord representatives, Christina Smyth, resigned, ripping the rent freeze as a predetermined conclusion the board had worked to justify.
    Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 25 June 2026
  • These vehicles are not fully autonomous, but independently follow a predetermined route.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026
Verb
  • The young boy’s biggest concern is staying out of the crosshairs of Calavera (Mauro Guzmán), the neighborhood bully who seems destined to follow the same path as his intimidating older brother, Felix (Cosmo Gonzalez).
    Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 July 2026
  • With wonder and with great shame the yodel is an orphaned sound, a sound that turns the serenade toward an addressee that is destined to never hear it.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 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
  • Impeachments are doomed to fail anyway, because unless the Democrats win 67 Senate seats, there will be no convictions.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
  • Sleeping separately doesn’t mean your relationship is doomed.
    Cheyenne Buckingham, Washington Post, 7 July 2026
Adjective
  • In retrospect, Sumner seemed predestined to become a famous abolitionist lawyer.
    Rob Wolfe, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • The Vatican said on July 2 that priests and lay Catholics who are part of a breakaway right-wing Catholic group that ordained bishops without Pope Leo's approval were in schism with the wider Church and now excommunicated.
    Joshua McElwee, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • Under church law, consecrating bishops without papal approval is considered a schismatic act and carries automatic excommunication for both the bishops being ordained and the bishop performing the ceremony.
    Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
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, 7 July 2026
  • The idea behind the lunch- and afternoon tea–only restaurant is to waste as little as possible.
    Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 7 July 2026
Adjective
  • Verbeek also has lost four key defensemen — captain Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson and Olen Zellweger — in the past month while adding only journeyman Nick Jensen as a probable replacement.
    Greg Beacham, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Lowe’s matchup is arguably the best for hitting a home run on Saturday’s MLB slate, given the sample sizes of the probable pitchers.
    Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Preordained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preordained. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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