- a variation of future tense.
future
Americannoun
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time that will be or come after the present.
In the future, the fines for these infractions may be much greater.
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something that will exist or happen in time to come.
The future is rooted in the past.
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a condition, especially of success or failure, to come.
An oracle had predicted the mighty hero's tragic future.
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Grammar. future tense.
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Stock Exchange. Usually futures. speculative purchases or sales of commodities to be received or delivered later on.
adjective
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coming or happening after the present time.
All these decisions are uncertain, as they depend on future events.
On some future day when you are least expecting it, I will return.
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relating to or connected with time to come.
I’m afraid my future plans are already made, and they don’t include farming.
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Grammar. designating a tense or other verb construction that refers to events or states happening after the present time.
noun
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the time yet to come
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undetermined events that will occur in that time
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the condition of a person or thing at a later date
the future of the school is undecided
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likelihood of later improvement or advancement
he has a future as a singer
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grammar
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a tense of verbs used when the action or event described is to occur after the time of utterance
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a verb in this tense
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from now on; henceforth
adjective
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that is yet to come or be
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of or expressing time yet to come
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(prenominal) destined to become
a future president
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grammar in or denoting the future as a tense of verbs
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of future
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English futur, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin fūtūrus “about to be, going to be,” future participle of esse “to be” ( see essence ( def. )); akin to Welsh bod “to be” ( see eisteddfod ( def. ))
Explanation
A time that hasn’t happened yet is the future. You're reading this in the present, and what you read by clicking on the link for the next screen will happen in the future, i.e., in the time ahead. Future goes back to the Latin root futūrus "about to be," and it is a noun or an adjective referring to things to come. When we hope, we are often imagining what will happen in the future. You might dream of becoming a doctor in the future, or you're looking forward to the weekend, just days away but still in the future. Now is the present, yesterday is the past, and tomorrow is the future, the opposite of the past.
Vocabulary lists containing future
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Constitution"
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"Earth and Space"
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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.
See Examples For:
The findings may help guide future observations of exomoons and the disks surrounding young gas giants.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
With the visibility of Dorothy, Marshall and future openly queer descendants, will a time come when LGBTQ+ perspectives are formally recognized at Monticello?
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
England's Gabriel Langton said he feared for his future in gymnastics after his horror fall at the Commonwealth Games, but will "definitely be back to it" soon.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Until large language models came along, AI could not help with decisions like whether to buy Nvidia or SpaceX, since those require thinking through uncertainty and imagining future scenarios.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Our eyes are like a bridge, from the past to the future, from Hannie’s life to this moment of letting her go.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
That’s a private customized investment approach designed to reduce losses during market downturns by combining investments in stocks with hedging tools such as options, futures and/or short-selling.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
There are questions over the futures of several Chelsea forwards, with Joao Pedro regarded as the club's first-choice option.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Interest-rate futures showed Friday afternoon that traders see a roughly 36% chance that the Fed will raise rates this week, according to CME Group, pointing to unusual uncertainty about the central bank meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
A statistical analysis showed that having an adviser did not affect investors’ assessments of their investment strategies or their financial futures.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Walking through the raindrops, they talk about their futures, separately and together.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
