flash-forward

[flash-fawr-werd]

noun

1. a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which a future event or scene is inserted into the chronological structure of the work.

2. an event or scene so inserted.

Word History and Origins

Origin of flash-forward¹

1945–50; flash + forward, on the model of flashback

Example Sentences

I can’t be the only person who initially mistook Henry and Blake as the same guy and assumed the brutal opening flashback was actually a flash-forward.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But never mind: We can flash-forward through the next 30 or so years of Trump’s lifetime presidency and then fade out on his face atop Mount Rushmore.

Read more on Salon

Starting a TV series with a shocking flash-forward is a tiresome and overused narrative device, but once the plot spools back and the series finds its groove, it is superb.

Read more on BBC

There’s also 12 years and 11 seasons of back story to keep in mind — and a ton of lore, including flash-forward child births and complex double-crosses.

Read more on New York Times

From its playfully inventive opening to its flash-forward finale, Thomas Hardiman’s wild — and wildly impressive — first feature, set during a British regional hairdressing competition, is a proudly indelicate, painstakingly structured pleasure.

Read more on New York Times