foreshadowing
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of foreshadowing
First recorded in 1845–50; foreshadow ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Foreshadowing is an advance sign or warning of what is to come in the future. The author of a mystery novel might use foreshadowing in an early chapter of her book to give readers an inkling of an impending murder. When you want to let people know about an event that is yet to occur, you can use foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is used as a literary device to tease readers about plot turns that will occur later in the story. A fortune teller might use foreshadowing, warning that a short life line is a sign of some impending disaster.
Vocabulary lists containing foreshadowing
Power Prefix: fore-
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Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory
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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 3
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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.
I wish I’d noted that line as foreshadowing, but just like any good mystery, the clues are only evident in hindsight.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026
The bloody stain of the cicada on the artwork proves to be excellent foreshadowing of where the film is headed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
But markets have a way of foreshadowing future shifts.
From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025
Agnes cares for her second daughter so devoutly that her worry can’t help but portend tragedy, and Zhao and O’Farrell’s foreshadowing is as subtle as a sword to the spleen.
From Salon • Nov. 30, 2025
Beet sugar was a foreshadowing of what we have today: the Age of Science, in which sweetness is a product of chemistry, not whips.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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.
