presentiment
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of presentiment
1705–15; < French, now obsolete spelling of pressentiment. See pre-, sentiment
Explanation
Do you ever have the feeling that something bad is about to happen? That’s called a presentiment. The word presentiment comes from the Latin word præsentire, meaning “to sense beforehand.” Some people call it a "gut feeling." For example, if you leave for a trip and something doesn't feel right, you may chalk it up to just being nervous. But later, when your flight is cancelled and you lose your luggage, you may remember that little twinge — the presentiment that something bad was about to happen.
Vocabulary lists containing presentiment
Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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Grade 12, List 6
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Jane Eyre
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Presentiment that long shadow passes over, and we are the startled grass.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Presentiment indeed it is, but not at all supernatural.
From Charlotte Bront? A Monograph by Reid, T. Wemyss
"Presentiment of ill."—Marmont tells us what this was.
From Napoleon's Letters to Josephine by Hall, Henry Foljambe
Presentiment, foreboding, omen become the essential tissue of works that are lifted by them into the higher realm of imagination.
From Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti by Caine, Hall, Sir
Presentiment, prē-sen′ti-ment, n. a sentiment or feeling beforehand: previous opinion: an impression as of something unpleasant soon to happen.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
