foreshadow
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has foreshadowedperfect 3rd person singular
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have foreshadowedperfect
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am foreshadowingprogressive 1st person singular
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are foreshadowingprogressive
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has been foreshadowingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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foreshadowssingular 3rd person
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is foreshadowingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been foreshadowingperfect progressive
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foreshadowingparticiple
Past
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had foreshadowedperfect
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foreshadowedparticiple
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had been foreshadowingperfect progressive
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were foreshadowingprogressive plural
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foreshadowedsimple
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was foreshadowingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of foreshadow
Explanation
To foreshadow is to predict something or to give a hint of what is to come. Your kid sister's ability to take apart a toaster and put it back together might foreshadow a successful career in electronics. The verb foreshadow can mean "to warn" and often has a suggestion of something bad to come, though sometimes it's more neutral or shows examples of both good and bad predictions. Dark gray clouds foreshadow a thunderstorm, just as spring showers foreshadow May flowers. What is foreshadowed doesn't always happen, though. A story might not foreshadow a happily-ever-after ending, but it can take an unexpected twist where the villain turns out to be a hero.
Vocabulary lists containing foreshadow
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
Yet many of the body plans seen in those ancient animals foreshadow features that later appeared in dinosaurs, birds, and other groups.
From Science Daily • May 29, 2026
Consumer sentiment has also tumbled, and while that doesn’t always mean actual spending is about to drop, it could foreshadow problems in the months ahead.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
The Tokyo figures, which often foreshadow nationwide trends, showed price pressures easing at the start of 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
England could have retained the Ashes in Perth, only for Mitchell Johnson to foreshadow the havoc he would cause four years later.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
Sturtevant’s rudimentary genetic map would foreshadow the vast and elaborate efforts to map genes along the human genome in the 1990s.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
