as in to foreshadow
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the first crocus traditionally prefigures the arrival of spring
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prefigure
The landing also prefigured grander Chinese lunar ambitions.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 22 Sep. 2021
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
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
It is also prefigured (another Biblical device) by Pharaoh’s order, in Exodus, to kill all male babies born to Hebrew mothers.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
IEEE Spectrum, 22 Sep. 2021
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
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
It is also prefigured (another Biblical device) by Pharaoh’s order, in Exodus, to kill all male babies born to Hebrew mothers.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefigure
Verb
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As that single foreshadowed, Will Smith now has a new album out, his first in 20 years, Based on a True Story.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
28 Mar. 2025
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Saturday's actions were foreshadowed two weeks ago, when Gavin Kliger, a former Twitter software engineer who is now part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, was spotted inside VOA headquarters, sources told Axios.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Edwards and other experts predict the government will rely on an existing bank partner rather than build a new system from scratch.—
Dan Avery,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2025
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Artificial intelligence is transforming climate change prediction and rapidly becoming one of the most powerful tools available to predict, manage and mitigate the effects of climate change.—
Heather Wishart-Smith,
Forbes.com,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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This implies a poor Debt-to-Equity Ratio of 64.7% (vs. 19.0% for S&P 500).—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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Such methodology doesn’t necessarily align with the conventional approach for calculating tariffs and implies the U.S. would have looked at only the trade deficit in goods and ignored trade in services.—
Neelabh Chaturvedi, Asriel Chua,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Chain-of-Thought (CoT) Prompting Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting has been heralded as one of the most important prompting techniques.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Instead of relying on painful spinal taps and expensive brain scans, these blood tests are heralded as a new, less invasive and time-consuming way to determine risk and aid in an earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Wang said the ride to space was much smoother than anticipated, noting that only the final minute before the engines cut off on the second stage was significant.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2025
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The second time was long anticipated by the members of my Brownie Troop.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prefigure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefigure. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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