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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Recent Examples of portend
Editor’s picks Could this template — legendary bands with nothing even close to an original member in the lineup — portend the future of classic-rock road shows?
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David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Dec. 2024
McConnell’s statement may portend a bruising battle over Kennedy’s nomination.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 13 Dec. 2024
But the cliffhanger arrival of a letter from her half-sister, Selina Kyle, portends more of Sofia Gigante in future chapters of the Batman Epic Crime Saga.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
The big picture: Trump portends more protectionism, less U.S. spending and intervention overseas, and a new pecking order in which ideological alliances between leaders can matter more than treaty alliances between countries.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend 
David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Dec. 2024
McConnell’s statement may portend a bruising battle over Kennedy’s nomination.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 13 Dec. 2024
But the cliffhanger arrival of a letter from her half-sister, Selina Kyle, portends more of Sofia Gigante in future chapters of the Batman Epic Crime Saga.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
The big picture: Trump portends more protectionism, less U.S. spending and intervention overseas, and a new pecking order in which ideological alliances between leaders can matter more than treaty alliances between countries.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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The western portion of the state, including Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo, is predicted to experience normal temperatures.Mariyam Muhammad, The Enquirer, 22 Dec. 2024
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Citigroup is even more bullish, predicting a $7 trillion humanoid robot market by 2050 with 1.19 billion humanoid robots in operation.Pia Singh, CNBC, 21 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Parents are promised that the system works for 80-90 percent of children, and that students consistently rank in the NWEA’s 90th percentile.Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Dec. 2024
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This everyone-gets-pork spending bill at year’s end is the sort of thing Johnson had promised not to do as speaker.The Editors, National Review, 19 Dec. 2024
Verb
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This year’s Future 50 honorees have seen four-times-greater sales growth and three-times-greater total shareholder returns over the past five years than the average company in our sample group—hopefully presaging similar results to come.Ketil Gjerstad, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2024
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And first-century Celtic druids apparently used mistletoe to make a sacred fertility elixir—one historic use that presaged the plant’s now-dominant identity as an excuse for kissing.Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Those in need of shelter from the cold can call 211 to check availability of beds.Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2023
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Their children’s schoolmates call the sisters the Puffling Queens.Cheryl Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Some read — or at least, want to read — the dazzling display as foretelling a return to the fold — although that may be unlikely if Margiela owner Renzo Rosso has anything to say about it.Gráinne O'Hara Belluomo, WWD, 1 Dec. 2024
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On a more abstract level, though, the project did foretell a future in which amateur and professional producers crashed songs into one another.Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 20 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Despite the difficulty, in some cases the stakes are so high—as with North Korea and its nuclear weapons—that armies will have no choice but to take the fight to what is often a vast, foreboding underworld.Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 27 June 2023
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There are foreboding close-ups on clock faces and their fast-changing digits.Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 23 June 2023
Verb
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Seven of the movies on my top-10 list come from first- and second-time filmmakers, a supermajority that augurs well for 2025 and beyond.Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
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In another scene that augurs what’s to come, Ellen begs Thomas not to go.David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.
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