Forebode

//fɔːˈbəʊd// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    prognostication; presage obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To predict a future event; to hint at something that will happen (especially as a literary device).

    "There can be, if I forebode aright, no power, short of the Divine mercy, to disclose, whether by uttered words, or by type or emblem, the secrets that may be buried with a human heart."

  2. 2
    make a prediction about; tell in advance wordnet
  3. 3
    To be prescient of (some ill or misfortune); to have an inward conviction of, as of a calamity which is about to happen; to augur despondingly.

    "Sullen, desponding, and foreboding nothing but wars and desolation, as the certain consequence of Caesar's death."

Synonyms

All synonyms
foretellforetellpredictpredictadumbrateannounce

Example

More examples

"This does not forebode anything good for you."

Etymology

From Middle English foreboden, from Old English forebodian, equivalent to fore- + bode.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.