predict
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Synonym Usage
Predict, prophesy, foresee, forecast mean to know or tell (usually correctly) beforehand what will happen. To predict is usually to foretell with precision of calculation, knowledge, or shrewd inference from facts or experience: The astronomers can predict an eclipse; it may, however, be used without the implication of underlying knowledge or expertise: I predict she'll be a success at the party. Prophesy usually means to predict future events by the aid of divine or supernatural inspiration: Merlin prophesied the two knights would meet in conflict; this verb, too, may be used in a more general, less specific sense. I prophesy he'll be back in the old job. To foresee refers specifically not to the uttering of predictions but to the mental act of seeing ahead; there is often (but not always) a practical implication of preparing for what will happen: He was clever enough to foresee this shortage of materials. Forecast has much the same meaning as predict; it is used today particularly of the weather and other phenomena that cannot easily be accurately predicted: Rain and snow are forecast for tonight. Economists forecast a rise in family income.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predictabilitynoun
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mispredictverb
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predictableadjective
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unpredictedadjective
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unpredictingadjective
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predictablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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predictsimple
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predictssimple
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have predictedperfect
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has predictedperfect
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am predictingprogressive
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are predictingprogressive
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is predictingprogressive
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have been predictingperfect progressive
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has been predictingperfect progressive
Past
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predictedsimple
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had predictedperfect
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was predictingprogressive
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were predictingprogressive
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had been predictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of predict
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin praedictus, past participle of praedīcere “to foretell,” equivalent to prae- “before, earlier” + dic-, variant stem of dīcere “to say” + -tus past participle suffix; see pre-, dictum
Explanation
To predict is to say what you think is going to happen in the future. If you predict that you'll win the poker championship, you're either really confident in your poker skills or you're cheating. The prefix pre means "before." Dict comes from the Latin dicere, which means "to say," yet you can use predict to refer to things that can't say anything at all. Darkening skies can predict a coming storm, for example, and a runny nose can predict a cold. You can predict something based on factual evidence, or on a crystal-ball reading, or just on plain intuition.
Vocabulary lists containing predict
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 1
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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:
Economists predict the U.S. consumer-price index fell by 0.2% in June.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
I predict a self-identifying Chinese style will assert itself globally, like the “Cool Britannia” era of the 1990s, when London’s cultural vision shaped everything from clothes to concert halls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Speta said he believes that these constitutional arguments should be a “slam dunk,” yet was reluctant to predict whether or not courts would smile upon these arguments were this issue to be tried.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Researchers found that oak trees continue absorbing carbon dioxide well after their annual growth has ended, suggesting forests may store less carbon in wood than many climate models currently predict.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Like Crandell and Mullineaux, CVO scientists examine rocks from previous eruptions—using the past to help predict what might happen in the future.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Goldman Sachs predicts that by 2030, the total fleet of commercial robotaxis in the U.S. will reach 62,800 cars in a nearly $19 billion market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Kori Adelson, president of North Road Films — one of the financiers behind “Backrooms” — predicts this shift also will change how studios weigh “price point to risk.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In her dissent, Sotomayor predicts that the ruling will cause chaos by creating tremendous legal uncertainty.
From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026
Should the current trends continue, UN-Habitat predicts more than half of Kenya's population will be living in towns or cities by 2050.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
There is the Milky Way clear as can be, which predicts bad weather.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Fable predicted the plants would smell like “rotten flesh from Minecraft.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
One analyst who predicted it from first principles was Joachim Klement, a managing director at U.K. investment bank Panmure Liberum.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Wave theory predicted that a bright point should appear in the center of the disc's shadow, where complete darkness would otherwise be expected.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
Who could have predicted, 20 years ago, that someday fans would watch entire baseball games on a mobile phone?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
First in May 1920, and then again two months later, he boldly and unequivocally predicted that a serious Communist revolt was about to take place throughout the country.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Later, physicist Yakov Zel'dovich expanded on this concept, predicting that waves interacting with an object rotating fast enough could also gain energy and become amplified.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a history of predicting that AI will create new jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
More: Researchers cracked the code on predicting market bubbles.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Next week, the Met Office is predicting another hot spell, with temperatures in the "low to mid 30s" across much of the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
This is an astonishing development, especially given that as recently as the mid-1970s, the most well-respected criminologists were predicting that the prison system would soon fade away.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
