foretaste
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
foretastes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foretasted,
past participle, past
-
foretasting
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
foretastesimple
-
foretastessimple
-
have foretastedperfect
-
has foretastedperfect
-
am foretastingprogressive
-
are foretastingprogressive
-
is foretastingprogressive
-
have been foretastingperfect progressive
-
has been foretastingperfect progressive
Past
-
foretastedsimple
-
had foretastedperfect
-
was foretastingprogressive
-
were foretastingprogressive
-
had been foretastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of foretaste
First recorded in 1400–50, foretaste is from the late Middle English word fortaste. See fore-, taste
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:
That is a foretaste of what analysts say will be a growing pool of debt tied to data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
That applies whether you think the current troubles are just a blip or a foretaste of the job losses that technological changes are bringing to the industry, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2024
“But if this a foretaste of the feast to come, then we’re in massive trouble.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2023
“A foretaste of the future,” said Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
But it was frightening; or, more exactly, it was like a foretaste of death, like being a little less alive.
From "1984" by George Orwell
As spare and considered as their Morton Feldman score, these solos aren’t just foretastes of 1960s Judson Dance Theater; they could easily be the work of a present-day postmodernist like Beth Gill.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
But, ah! the way thither is not so easy; and these heavenly foretastes remain only a short time in the souls of children, as well as of grown people.
From The Home by Mary (Mary Botham) Howitt
Thus before the great change takes place the nymph has foretastes of the aerial mode of breathing which it will practise when the perfect stage shall have been attained.
From The Life-Story of Insects by George H. (George Herbert) Carpenter
"To him they are not shadows, but foretastes," said Meta.
From The Daisy chain, or Aspirations by Charlotte Mary Yonge
"We shall see him as he is," says the apostle; and some foretastes of that transcendent revelation are vouchsafed us here on earth.
From Know the Truth; A critique of the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse H. Jones
At the same time, Auburn University officials say the school is expected to maintain consistent undergraduate enrollment at about 25,000 students with no significant growth foretasted.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 10, 2019
Adam foretasted comfort for himself and his descendants.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
In that lonely little closet of his, Pierre foretasted all that this world hath either of praise or dispraise; and thus foretasting both goblets, anticipatingly hurled them both in its teeth.
From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Herman Melville
Every detail of work and play is colored by expectation, as if the relief of vacation were already foretasted.
From For Greater Things; the story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka by William Terence Kane
For herself she was unafraid, she foretasted entire success.
From Red Masquerade by Louis Joseph Vance
Confident of success, they were foretasting gleefully the terror of the stream at sight of the blessed image entering its waters.
From The Torrent Entre Naranjos by Isaac Goldberg
In that lonely little closet of his, Pierre foretasted all that this world hath either of praise or dispraise; and thus foretasting both goblets, anticipatingly hurled them both in its teeth.
From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Herman Melville
"Am I the sun, dear?" he asked, foretasting the delight of listening to her simple answer.
From The Witch of Prague by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford
We need much humility, wisdom, and love to perform the functions of foreshadowing and foretasting heaven within us.
From Christian Science by Mark Twain
Instantly she knew, with that foretasting mind of hers, that the man peering over the policeman's shoulder and Johnny Two-Hawks had met somewhere that day.
From The Drums of Jeopardy by Harold MacGrath
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.
