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fortune-teller

or for·tune·tell·er

[fawr-chuh n-tel-er]
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noun
  1. a person who claims the ability to predict the future.
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Origin of fortune-teller

First recorded in 1580–90; fortune + teller
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fortuneteller

Historical Examples

  • They were a sort of cross between the bard and the fortuneteller.

    Bible Studies

    Joseph M. Wheeler

  • She was a fortuneteller and she wanted to tell me my fortune.

    Slave Narratives: Arkansas Narratives

    Work Projects Administration

  • Nevertheless, however blind and lying is the fortuneteller's art, it may yet hit home once in a thousand times.

  • A fortuneteller with cards gives one the same shock of surprise.

    The Path of a Star

    Mrs. Everard Cotes (AKA Sara Jeannette Duncan)

British Dictionary definitions for fortuneteller

fortune-teller

noun
  1. a person who makes predictions about the future as by looking into a crystal ball, reading palms, etc
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Derived Formsfortune-telling, adjective, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fortuneteller

n.

also fortune-teller, 1580s, from fortune + teller. Verbal phrase tellen fortune is from early 15c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper