as in to anticipate
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow
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Recent Examples of adumbrate
In between, works by contemporaries complicate superficial ideas about his meteoric genius, and small, delicate drawings teem with an abundance of ideas — paintings never made, thoughts adumbrated then abandoned.
—
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrate
Verb
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Entering what many anticipate to be one of the closest F1 seasons ever, making sense of the three days of preseason running in Bahrain could be especially difficult.—
Luke Smith,
The Athletic,
25 Feb. 2025
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In connection with the completion of the Transactions, New Lionsgate (Lionsgate Studios Corp) anticipates having approximately $1,755.3 million of outstanding indebtedness, while Starz anticipates having approximately $631.7 million of outstanding indebtedness.—
Joe Cornell,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Specifically, the credits now foreshadow particular moments that emerge over the course of the season: Look no further than the moment when innie Mark hobbles about a hilly grassland, which turns to be an actual milieu for a scene anchored by Gwendoline Christie in episode three.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2025
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The ending is foreshadowed throughout the movie, as disturbing behavior from Annie's kids and herself eventually turns fatal.—
Erica Marrison,
People.com,
19 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Oscar predicting, like forecasting in sports or politics, is an imperfect science.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
25 Feb. 2025
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Join 388 others in the comments View Comments Sentiment surveys don’t necessarily predict future spending behavior.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The widescreen, 35mm format prefigured IMAX and other high-density imagery in a way that still stuns on screen.—
John Wenzel,
The Denver Post,
31 Jan. 2025
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The Page Act prefigured the near-total ban on Chinese immigration to the U.S. seven years later, with the Exclusion Act of 1882—the country’s first federal law to restrict a group on the basis of race.—
Jane Hu,
The New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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For the full year: Total revenue in the range of $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion, implying between 7% to 8% growth.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
27 Feb. 2025
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Wells offers us a model of political resistance to racial injustice that implies the complex negotiation of principles when confronted with sustained pressures, in practice, by the institutions and norms that perpetuate white supremacy and racial oppression.—
Amy Gais / Made by History,
TIME,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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That film was heralded as Daniel Craig’s last appearance in the 007 role, and in the four years since, there’s been very little movement on the Bond front, as no actor — despite rumors — has yet been handed the Walther and martini.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
20 Feb. 2025
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The 4 Nations Face-Off is meant to herald the NHL's return to the Winter Olympics.—
Andrew King,
Axios,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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While there’s no crystal ball, many beauty companies, such as Unilever, foresee after a soft start to 2025 that the market will gain more traction in the second half of the year.—
Kathryn Hopkins,
WWD,
25 Feb. 2025
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Neither Churchill nor Mellon could foresee that the main beneficiary of a tottering world economy would eventually be Hitler.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to adumbrate
Cite this Entry
“Adumbrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrate. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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