harbinger

American  

[hahr-bin-jer] / ˈhɑr bɪn dʒər /

noun

• harbingers
  plural

1. 

   a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.

2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign.

   Frost is a harbinger of winter.

   Synonyms:

   indication, portent, precursor, forerunner, herald

3. a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train, etc., to provide or secure lodgings and other accommodations.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to act as harbinger to; herald the coming of.

harbinger British  

/ ˈhɑːbɪndʒə /

noun

1. a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of something; forerunner

2. obsolete a person sent in advance of a royal party or army to obtain lodgings for them

---

verb

1. (tr) to announce the approach or arrival of

Usage

What does harbinger mean? Harbinger most commonly means an omen or a sign of something to come. Harbinger can also mean a person sent ahead to make people aware that someone else is coming (such as a king) or to make preparations (such as for an army), but these meanings are much less common. Harbinger can also be used as a verb meaning to act as a sign or omen. Example: These flowers are always the first to bloom, so people consider them harbingers of spring.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• harbingers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of harbinger

First recorded in 1125–75; late Middle English herbenger, nasalized variant of Middle English herbegere, dissimilated variant of Old French herberg(i)ere “host,” equivalent to herberg(ier) “to shelter” (from Germanic; see harbor) + -iere -er ²

Explanation

A harbinger is something that comes before and that shows what will follow in the future. The robin is a harbinger of spring — its presence means spring is coming soon. The appearance of a ghost is often thought of as a harbinger of death. Middle English herbergere is from Old French herbergeor, "host," from herberge, "camp, shelter," a word ultimately borrowed from a Germanic language.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

harbinger harbingers

What has been a reliable harbinger of trouble for stocks and the U.S. economy has begun to emerge in the $31.5 trillion Treasury market.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Indeed, that might be a more troubling story: Economists say that weak crude demand could be a harbinger of economic weakness ahead.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026

Macau, a gambling hub, could be a harbinger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

“It’s too early to say if this is simply a mild bout of profit-taking, or a harbinger of a more protracted and deeper retreat,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Keep in mind that these results reflect only a child’s early test scores, a useful but fairly narrow measurement; poor testing in early childhood isn’t necessarily a great harbinger of future earnings, creativity, or happiness.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Whales, she said, can be harbingers of bigger changes under the surface of the ocean.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

“Dreamworld” opens, in the section “Waking Dream,” with harbingers of Surrealism—fusing classicism and modernism, reality and fantasy—by Giorgio de Chirico, whom Apollinaire described as a painter of things beyond the observable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

Scorsese attributed the early days of Beatlemania as harbingers of an artistic change that not only impacted the 1960s, but that can be felt in the popular culture of the present day.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024

Washcloths are particularly controversial: “People get really riled up, like, ‘Washcloths are harbingers of bacteria,’ and ‘If you don’t use a washcloth, you’re dirty.’

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024

They are the first harbingers of a tradition of portraiture that will continue unbroken until the collapse of the Roman Empire.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Related Words

• omen
• portent
• precursor