future

[ fyoo-cher ]
See synonyms for future on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. time that is to be or come hereafter.

  2. something that will exist or happen in time to come: The future is rooted in the past.

  1. a condition, especially of success or failure, to come: An oracle had predicted the mighty hero's tragic future.

  2. Grammar.

    • the future tense.

    • another future formation or construction.

    • a form in the future, as He will come.

  3. Usually fu·tures. speculative purchases or sales of commodities for future receipt or delivery.

adjective
  1. that is to be or come hereafter: future events; on some future day.

  2. pertaining to or connected with time to come: one's future prospects; future plans.

  1. Grammar. noting or pertaining to a tense or other verb formation or construction that refers to events or states in time to come.

Origin of future

1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English futur Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin fūtūrus “about to be, going to be” (future participle ofesse “to be”)

Words Nearby future

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use future in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for future

future

/ (ˈfjuːtʃə) /


noun
  1. the time yet to come

  2. undetermined events that will occur in that time

  1. the condition of a person or thing at a later date: the future of the school is undecided

  2. likelihood of later improvement or advancement: he has a future as a singer

  3. grammar

    • a tense of verbs used when the action or event described is to occur after the time of utterance

    • a verb in this tense

  4. in future from now on; henceforth

adjective
  1. that is yet to come or be

  2. of or expressing time yet to come

  1. (prenominal) destined to become: a future president

  2. grammar in or denoting the future as a tense of verbs

Origin of future

1
C14: from Latin fūtūrus about to be, from esse to be

Derived forms of future

  • futureless, adjective

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with future

future

see in the near future.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.