predict

Synonym Chooser

How is the word predict different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of predict are forecast, foretell, prognosticate, and prophesy. While all these words mean "to tell beforehand," predict commonly implies inference from facts or accepted laws of nature.

astronomers predicted an eclipse

How are the words forecast and predict related?

Forecast adds the implication of anticipating eventualities and differs from predict in being usually concerned with probabilities rather than certainties.

forecast snow

Where would foretell be a reasonable alternative to predict?

While the synonyms foretell and predict are close in meaning, foretell applies to the telling of the coming of a future event by any procedure or any source of information.

seers foretold the calamity

How does the word prognosticate relate to other synonyms for predict?

Prognosticate is used less often than the other words; it may suggest learned or skilled interpretation, but more often it is simply a colorful substitute for predict or prophesy.

prognosticating the future

When can prophesy be used instead of predict?

The words prophesy and predict can be used in similar contexts, but prophesy connotes inspired or mystic knowledge of the future especially as the fulfilling of divine threats or promises.

prophesying a new messiah

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of predict On Wednesday, that's predicted to affect Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Russell Lewis, NPR, 8 Jan. 2025 Forecasts predict freezing rain, snow and sleet to impact the region beginning on Thursday alongside possibly 6 to 9 inches of snow in some locations. Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Jan. 2025 The Weather Service predicts the storm could create dangerous, difficult and hazardous travel conditions and loss of power in affected areas. Campbell Roper, arkansasonline.com, 8 Jan. 2025 That's far less than in New York, where the typical 2025 wedding is predicted to cost $65,000, or Washington, D.C., where it's expected to cost $52,000. Melissa Santos, Axios, 7 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for predict 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predict
Verb
  • The bottom line In a sign of how much investors are currently worried about inflation returning, the Institute for Supply Management’s services index, an inflation reading typically secondary to more significant data points like the consumer price index, is sending shockwaves through the market.
    Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The pedals are heavy, but the clutch is easy to read and operate around town.
    Charlie Thomas, Robb Report, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • At that point, analysts anticipate that the fund would only be enough to pay roughly 80 percent of what beneficiaries are owed.
    Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Meteorologists anticipate strong Santa Ana winds to persist for another week, elevating the risk of more wildfires and the rapid growth of active blazes.
    Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • Political violence rose to the surface in the US, and there was an election result that foretells four years of chaos and persecution for many.
    Rob Reddick, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The wildfires have continued to burn across the region, with powerful Santa Ana winds and fire conditions forecasted for Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
    Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The area is forecast to scrape by with overnight lows near 1 degree.
    Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Dangerous fire conditions are expected to return next week, the National Weather Service warned.
    Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Top Senate negotiators are privately warning that talks about a spending deal are way behind schedule.
    Hans Nichols, Axios, 16 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • That hasn’t stopped our stalwart insiders from viewing them and preferentially voting in 10 Oscar categories (most points for most likely, or most hoped for, to succeed) for your prognosticating pleasure.
    Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
  • Relying on polls and the prognosticating reputation of their Washington correspondent, editors announced the victory of Republican New York Gov. Thomas Dewey over the incumbent president, Democrat Harry S. Truman.
    Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • The timing may have seemed inauspicious, but in hindsight, the debut of the 3940 presaged a new era for Patek Philippe, marked by serial production of complicated timepieces.
    Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Meanwhile, sharply declining fertility rates presage a future in which fewer working-age citizens will be forced to shoulder an ever-growing burden.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • In an August statement announcing that the plan would begin as early as spring, the wildlife agency said barred owls are native to eastern North America and moved westward in the 20th century.
    Adrian Rodriguez, Hartford Courant, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Some of the first celebrities to announce they had been evacuated, the couple was able to see their home being destroyed in real-time, thanks to security cameras on the property.
    Caroline Thayer, Fox News, 12 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near predict

Cite this Entry

“Predict.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predict. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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