- present participle of foreshadow.
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.
Premonitions, Foreshadowings of some terrible disaster Oppress my heart.
From The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
Foreshadowings of social relations occur in the animal world, not only in the line of our own vertebrate ancestry, but in certain orders of insects which stand quite remote from that line.
From The Destiny of Man Viewed in the Light of His Origin by Fiske, John
Foreshadowings of social relations occur in the animal world.
From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by Williams, C. M.
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.
