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
Tragedy strikes many times in this decades-spanning story, in many forms, but the defining event of Grainier’s life sees his home burned to the ground, an event that eerily prefigures the LA fires of early 2025.
—
Damon Wise, Deadline, 8 Nov. 2025
The dynamic prefigured the White House of Bush 43, which the Veep largely staffed, and substantially dominated.
—Karl Vick, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
These opulent volumes prefigure the label’s high jewelry offering.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 10 Oct. 2025
Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.
—Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Damon Wise, Deadline, 8 Nov. 2025
The dynamic prefigured the White House of Bush 43, which the Veep largely staffed, and substantially dominated.
—Karl Vick, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
These opulent volumes prefigure the label’s high jewelry offering.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 10 Oct. 2025
Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.
—Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prefigure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefigure
Verb
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The two went public with their relationship in May 2025, foreshadowing a merger of two NFL families.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
5 Apr. 2026
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With almost three years left in his final term, Trump’s absence from CPAC foreshadows his eventual departure as leader of the GOP and the conservative movement, a role typically served by the president or the party’s leading contender for the White House.—
Gromer Jeffers Jr.
Political,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Overall, Sosnowski predicts that a gradual warmup is forecast in most cases after a cool start to the week.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
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Large language models, or LLMs, are trained to predict the next most statistically likely word given everything that came before it, said Zhivar Sourati, a doctoral student at the University of Southern California and first author of the paper.—
Asuka Koda,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On Tuesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine said the US had begun to fly B-52s over Iran, implying that airspace was now safer for attacks using cheaper and more plentiful JDAM precision bombs.—
Gerry Doyle,
Fortune,
4 Apr. 2026
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Analyst Ebrahim Poonawala’s $140 price objective implies that shares of Citigroup could add 21%.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Dodgers brought in a live trumpet player to play Diaz’s signature entrance music, heralding the first save situation for the Dodgers’ new closer.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2026
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Paramount’s movie adaptation of the book took more than $100 million globally and heralded the launch of a new screen talent in Norton.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The firm has seen operators anticipate relatively short life cycles and construct facilities that are more modular in response.—
April Roach,
CNBC,
6 Apr. 2026
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Doncic’s agency first told ESPN of the news of the Slovenian star’s attempt to recover quicker, potentially joining the Lakers for games in the playoffs sooner than anticipated.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prefigure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefigure. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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