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
None of this necessarily portends an imminent crisis, and many on Wall Street remain upbeat about the economic prospects of a second Trump Presidency.
—
John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
There is a scene, in fact, in her country house swimming pool, that seems to portend a drowning.
—Valerie Monroe, Allure, 25 Dec. 2024
So her early-November poll sent shock waves across the political class, who debated whether her findings portended an unaccounted-for Harris advantage.
—Elahe Izadi, arkansasonline.com, 18 Dec. 2024
Long voting lines and robust fundraising support for Vice President Harris seemed to portend high turnout.
—Monica Eng, Axios, 27 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend 
John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
There is a scene, in fact, in her country house swimming pool, that seems to portend a drowning.
—Valerie Monroe, Allure, 25 Dec. 2024
So her early-November poll sent shock waves across the political class, who debated whether her findings portended an unaccounted-for Harris advantage.
—Elahe Izadi, arkansasonline.com, 18 Dec. 2024
Long voting lines and robust fundraising support for Vice President Harris seemed to portend high turnout.
—Monica Eng, Axios, 27 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for portend
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portend
Verb
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Outgoing Chairman Jaime Harrison, who grew emotional in his closing speech on Friday, predicted the loss of power can give way to a reboot for the Democratic Party.—
Mabinty Quarshie,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
31 Jan. 2025
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Belloni and Goldberg predicted that Netflix would be done with the couple after 2025.—
Martha Ross,
The Mercury News,
31 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Then there’s the issue of funding for those positions: Congress has only funded the government until March 14th while the buyout offer promises employees they would be paid through the fiscal year, which ends on September 30th.—
Maria Gracia Santillana Linares,
Forbes,
30 Jan. 2025
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In all, 14 of the victims were coming back from a national development camp for promising young skaters following the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas, Zeghibe said.—
Jimmy Golen,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Horton’s promotion was presaged by the Season 2 finale, which found his antagonist Hagan poised to become the next president.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
31 Jan. 2025
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The collapse presaged the demise of two other banks, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, and prompted fears of a replay of the 2008 banking crisis.—
Reuters,
CNN,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Congress might also call on President Biden to ban TikTok under the IEEPA.—
Emily Baker-White,
Forbes,
14 Feb. 2023
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Kia customers can also call customer care at 1-800-333-4542 or check out owners.kia.com/us/en/kia-owner-portal.html.—
Saleen Martin,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Kessler’s hiring could foretell antitrust litigation that would rattle a hockey world already coming to terms with the NCAA allowing more junior players to join Division I college teams.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
25 Jan. 2025
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Written soon after the death of Mahler’s daughter and soon before his own, the symphony is a sombre, reflective, and reverberant adieu, brewing such melancholy that Leonard Bernstein theorized that Mahler was foretelling his own end.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2025
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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Certainly, the world’s No. 1 retailer’s announcement that it’s poised to undershoot its targets to reduce planet-heating emissions by the end of the decade doesn’t augur well for the industry at large.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
3 Sep. 2019
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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
Thesaurus Entries Near portend
Cite this Entry
“Portend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portend. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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