as in to predict
formal + literary
to be a sign or warning that something usually bad or unpleasant is going to happen
The distant thunder portended a storm. If you're superstitious, a black cat portends trouble.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of portend
From Gatekeeping to Guidance For professionals whose expertise lies in coding, engineering, or other specialized fields, these trends portend not obsolescence but evolution.
—
John Winsor, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
What televisual future does this kind of man portend?
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
So does this portend more celebrity-couple cameos?
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2025
This measles death could portend more to come without clear government communication about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portend
John Winsor, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
What televisual future does this kind of man portend?
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
So does this portend more celebrity-couple cameos?
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2025
This measles death could portend more to come without clear government communication about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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Imagine walking into a meeting where one project manager is using AI to automate reporting, predict risks, and optimize resources in real-time, while another is still relying on manual tracking and outdated tools.—
Chris Gallagher,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2025
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Models predict that most meteorites – over half – should also be carbonaceous.—
Patrick M. Shober,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Kennedy, who listened and then walked arm-in-arm with Charles-Newton for the last leg of the hike, promised to look into the program and whether any funding was being impacted by the HHS-wide restructuring.—
Cheyenne Haslett,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2025
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Whatever wealth is promised here is narrowly disbursed at others’ expense.—
Zoë Schlanger,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Ryan Coogler first turned heads with his 2013 debut Fruitvale Station, a shattering account of a fatal shooting that presaged the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2025
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This belief justified, in their eyes, the use of indiscriminate violence against the Muslim minority—presaging, in Wagner’s view, the abuses of the post-9/11 era.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
7 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Marx himself would call DEI a classic case of ideology, a set of benign-seeming ideas that disguise the workings of the rulers, in this case empowered progressives.—
WSJ,
WSJ,
14 Feb. 2023
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However, today most young people rarely call each other.—
Andrea Wigfield,
CNN,
14 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Even as Miyazaki’s style proves memetic in this moment, his work might foretell the future of aesthetics, too.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2025
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This very different film is a dark comedy about a toy monkey that foretells and causes brutal deaths.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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With the third season of The White Lotus well underway—and its signature sense of foreboding steadily mounting—cast member Michelle Monaghan was in anything but ominous spirits last night at The Mark Hotel.—
Laura Neilson,
Vogue,
19 Mar. 2025
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Too on-the-nose to be foreboding, such clips offer a window into Linda’s mindset, as do antagonistic sessions with her therapist (and co-worker), amusingly played by Conan O’Brien with a look of constant gastric discomfort on his face that suggests her concerns may be giving him ulcers.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Could this augur a more confrontational tone for Fox News?—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
3 Feb. 2025
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The potential return of American Dad! to Fox also augurs well for 20th TV Animation’s other long-running Fox shows — Bob’s Burgers, MacFarlane’s Family Guy and The Simpsons — which are coming to the end of two-season orders at the network.—
Rick Porter,
The Hollywood Reporter,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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