as in prediction
a declaration that something will happen in the future
the far-fetched presagings of self-styled seers about current celebrities
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in predicting
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in reading
to tell of or describe beforehand
people used to believe that a comet presaged a major event, such as the death of a king
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example 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 presaging
News Desk, Artforum, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
Local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning at Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens, the new sanctuary honoring pathbreaking sculptor Alexander Calder, presaging its opening to the public, which is set for September 21.
—News Desk, Artforum, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for presaging
Noun
-
Musk’s trimming of his previous space travel predictions came after SpaceX acquired XAI last week, in a move that will merge two of his most ambitious companies into the most valuable private firm in the world.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Here are our picks and predictions for the men’s hockey tournament, with expert analysis and critique from senior writers Sean Gentille, Mark Lazerus and James Mirtle, analytics know-it-all Shayna Goldman and goaltending expert Jesse Granger.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The modern era is full of those predicting that the industrialization of the housing industry is just a few years away, only to be proved wrong.—
Ben Christopher,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had just trounced Michael Dukakis in the Michigan presidential primary — despite polls predicting Dukakis would win easily.—
Suzy Khimm,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Fueled by APIs, data visualization tools, and behavioral design, modern dashboards give individuals and businesses actionable insights across banking, investing, budgeting, and forecasting.—
William Jones,
Ascend Agency,
7 Feb. 2026
-
No one’s forecasting a day at the beach for Darnold, but everyone in town expects a comfortable Seahawks win.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Albemarle revenue down but beats expectations Albemarle also raised its long-term global lithium demand forecast Thursday, citing an explosive growth in the stationary storage market.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Plans for the walk could change depending on the weather, with a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Nobody could have known at the time, but that performance was a prophecy of the city’s future, where artists would become the primary stewards of Memphis music history, rampaging through old blues, rock, soul, and gospel.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
8 Feb. 2026
-
On October 7, 2023, Assad must have imagined for a few hours that Nasrallah’s prophecies had come true.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The fasten-seatbelt sign was on and the flight attendants were performing final cabin checks when the plane suddenly dropped, then violently pitched back up.—
Aaron Cooper,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Tom pulled up a Wikipedia page on his laptop called WikiProject AI Cleanup, and another on how to spot signs of AI writing.—
Imogen West-Knights,
The Dial,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Wintertime offers wondrous sights, from otherworldly glacial palaces to rolling hills of shimmering snow.—
Lydia Price,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Earth's moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, which happens to be, on average, 400 times farther from our planet than its natural satellite — a wondrous cosmic coincidence that causes both celestial objects to appear the same size in our sky.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Yet signs of a portentous ideological shift started to appear almost a quarter century ago, after 9/11.—
Jason Blakely,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Much like the film lingers on the cold northern landscape, Obomsawin’s music is laced with portentous silences and unresolved harmonies.—
Andrew Gilbert,
Mercury News,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Presaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/presaging. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
