as in forerunner
something believed to be a sign or warning of a future event
the preaching of John the Baptist is generally regarded by Christians as a prefiguring of the ministry of Jesus
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in foreshadowing
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the first crocus traditionally prefigures the arrival of spring
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prefiguring
Noun
-
The forerunner of today’s sleek MacBook laptops was the PowerBook.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
11 June 2025 -
Frederick Ashton’s for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (the forerunner of the Royal Ballet) in 1952, with a resplendent Margot Fonteyn in the title role, put the ballet back into the mainstream repertory, though it wasn’t performed by the Royal from the mid-1960s to 2004.—
Roslyn Sulcas,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
There was no foreshadowing of Triston Casas’ season-ending knee injury on May 3 or Bregman’s severe quad injury on May 23, one that will keep him out for several weeks.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
-
The document, seen by Newsweek, suggested Meghan had been left unprotected while pregnant in a foreshadowing of her argument to Oprah Winfrey less than a year later.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
Verb
-
To this day, headlines are heralding the impending demise of critical cancer, heart disease, and terminal research, but these headlines are fearmongering at their finest.—
William Lambers,
Newsweek,
7 Mar. 2025
-
Others doubled down on the idea that the robot displayed the first signs of conscious aggression, heralding a future in which AI no longer passively follows human commands.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
By World Health Organization (WHO) standards established in 1994, this designates a person as having osteopenia — often a precursor to osteoporosis.—
Jia H. Jung,
Mercury News,
4 June 2025
-
Leverton said trends like western, cottagecore, Americana and conservative styles of dress, in general, were precursors to where things were the U.S. presidential election was heading last year.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
The result is chaos, bewilderment and delay that presages rising consumer prices.—
Peter S. Goodman,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
-
There’s a kind of implicit prayer in this that the withering of today’s Hollywood system is a presage for something better, giving the entire production a painful, nostalgic quality that tugs at your chest even as what unfolds before you is remarkably dumb.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
The 49ers being the sixth favorite to win the Super Bowl next year seems insane and more based on past success rather than predicting future success.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
16 Mar. 2025
-
Time and again, research shows that algorithmic systems for 'predicting' crime are inherently flawed.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Thus, the negative GDP change should not be taken as a portent of looming disaster.—
Bill Conerly,
Forbes.com,
6 May 2025
-
Unbeknown to player and club, the transfer carried portents of the sombre fate that awaited him.—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Analyst Joseph Spak lowered his price target to $51 from $64, implying 11% upside.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Citi kept its buy rating with a $265 per share price target, implying 46% upside to Friday’s close.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Prefiguring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prefiguring. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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