soothsayer
noun
Did you know?
The origins are straightforward: a soothsayer is someone who says sooth. You may, however, find that less than enlightening! Sooth is an archaic word meaning "truth" or "reality" that dates from Old English and was used until about the first half of the 17th century. (It is believed to share an ancestor with words suggesting truthfulness and reality in Old Norse, Greek, Old High German, Sanskrit, Latin, and Gothic languages.) Soothsayer itself has been documented in print as far back as the 14th century. Today, it is also a moniker of the insect the mantis, whose name means "prophet" in Greek.
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Examples of soothsayer in a Sentence
EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Dating back to classical antiquity, the idea that a soothsayer can tell something about a person’s health, disposition, or destiny from the lines on their palm has long fascinated seers and scientists alike.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2024
Artists are soothsayers, time travelers, and conjurers.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024
Whether on Instagram or CNN, analysts (professional and self-appointed) behave like modern-day soothsayers, peering at the tea leaves of polls, social media, video clips and the general zeitgeist to utter words of prophecy and, increasingly, doom.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Soothsayer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soothsayer. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
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soothsayer
noun
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