foretell
Americanverb (used with object)
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foretells,
present (3rd person singular)
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foretold,
past participle, past
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foretelling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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foretellsimple
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foretellssimple
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have foretoldperfect
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has foretoldperfect
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am foretellingprogressive
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are foretellingprogressive
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is foretellingprogressive
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have been foretellingperfect progressive
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has been foretellingperfect progressive
Past
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foretoldsimple
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had foretoldperfect
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was foretellingprogressive
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were foretellingprogressive
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had been foretellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of foretell
First recorded in 1250–1300, foretell is from the Middle English word fortell. See fore-, tell 1
Explanation
To foretell is to predict or hint at something. Some people believe that two crows foretell good luck for the person who sees them. Signs and omens foretell good or bad fortune, and symbolism in the early chapters of a novel can foretell events that happen near the end of the book. Longtime sailors sometimes say that a pink morning sky foretells bad weather later in the day. In each case, something is being foreshadowed or forecast. Fore is an Old English prefix that means "before" or "earlier," and it's combined here with tell, "to reckon or consider."
Vocabulary lists containing foretell
Friday the 13th
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Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
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"Briar Rose" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
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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:
A high ADR premium doesn’t necessarily foretell disaster—in 2008-09, TSMC’s fat premium was the result of Taiwanese shares’ falling much more than the ADRs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Its flashing lights and internet connectivity foretell a future in which kids won’t rummage around in the toy box at all, opting instead for more and more screen time.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
Perhaps it’s bear markets that foretell better times.
From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025
Her name was Annie—“just Annie,” no surname—and she was “just an orphan,” a nobody, really, but she never let her impoverished origins foretell her fate.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2024
Her father fondly replied, “Ah! my dear, I wish you would not make matches and foretell things, for whatever you say always comes to pass. Pray do not make any more matches.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
This foretells of a world where hydrocarbons are substituted by other energy sources.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
The “Skyscraper Index” foretells tough times for a city or country that’s just built the world’s tallest one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
If the coming days are anything like those of past years, analysts will try to make the case that the stock market’s performance at the beginning of January foretells its full-year direction.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 2, 2026
While this close separation foretells a powerful merger, further study revealed that the pair has been stalled at this distance for over three billion years, begging the question; what's the hold-up?
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
Mother warns how we act today foretells the whole year.
From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
Little is known about the saint who, according to legend, was born on a clifftop in Pembrokeshire during a violent storm, after angels foretold his birth to St Patrick 30 years prior.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026
Some claim that the stock market’s full-year direction is foretold by its performance on the first trading day of January; others focus on the first two days, and still others on the first week.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 2, 2026
As the journalist Robert Bryce foretold years ago: “Electric vehicles are the Next Big Thing, and they always will be.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
In his 1998 book “Paradise Lost,” Schrag sought not simply to foretell the region’s future, but to explicate how its future foretold what was in store for the country as a whole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Aron the butcher says to me, "You believe this story? That she foretold a dragon? You think such things really exist?"
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
In the dark recesses of the U.S. economy, price pressures are bubbling up and foretelling another wave of inflation.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
That marvelous lighted scene, foretelling the end of Europe’s deadliest period, has stayed with me all these years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Critics have heaped praise on the new comedy series from Detectorists creator Mackenzie Crook, which follows a man who creates tiny creatures capable of foretelling the future and answering any question.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
A foretelling of last earthly smells, whether for the hunted or the hunter.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
That was the foretelling the Commandant spoke of in her office weeks ago, and now it suddenly makes sense.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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.
