portend
Americanverb (used with object)
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portends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
portended,
past participle, past
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portending
present participle
verb
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to give warning of; predict or foreshadow
-
obsolete to indicate or signify; mean
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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portendsimple
-
portendssimple
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have portendedperfect
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has portendedperfect
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am portendingprogressive
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are portendingprogressive
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is portendingprogressive
-
have been portendingperfect progressive
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has been portendingperfect progressive
Past
-
portendedsimple
-
had portendedperfect
-
was portendingprogressive
-
were portendingprogressive
-
had been portendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of portend
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin portendere “to point out, indicate, portend,” variant of prōtendere “to extend”; see pro- 1, tend 1
Explanation
Portend means to show a sign that something calamitous is about to happen. The teetering, tottering, pile of fine china piled up after the dinner party portends an imminent crash of broken plates and dishes. Portend is a verb warning of omens, or bad signs. Dark clouds rumbling in over a county fair in Kansas portend the thunderstorm and even tornado that is likely to ruin the festivities. Portend is a helpful way for authors to foreshadow dark events ahead in their stories.
Vocabulary lists containing portend
Grade 11, List 2
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"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" by Frederick Douglass
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Chains
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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:
The county’s main economic engine is a university where enrollment has declined over the past two years and demographic trends portend further declines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Put it all together, and the march of trillicorn IPOs doesn’t portend doom for investors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Signs pointed to another U.S. military buildup in the region this week that could portend a fresh round of fighting.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
So what does this portend for the future of American politics?
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026
The finest astronomers and astrologers—Thomas Digges in England, Francesco Maurolico in Italy, Tadeàš Hàjek in Prague—racked their brains in an attempt to work out what this might portend and hastened to publish their conflicting conclusions.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
"The yields are troubling people because it portends a tighter environment and it's going to be more expensive to borrow money," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Meanwhile Philippa, knowing that “visionaries are ungovernable,” fears that Barton’s presence in her nunnery portends catastrophe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
But its wholesale gutting portends an even more uncertain future for talented filmmakers already struggling in the A.I. age.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026
Some analysts are hopeful that the trend portends long-term structural changes to the memory market, which has long been cyclical.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
I don't know just what it is, but I imagine that I feel as they say the Saxons felt when they saw the comet flaming in the year of the Conquest, that something portends.
From In a Mysterious Way by Anne Warner
The staginess that sinks many of his other pictures portended a digital age where all images would trend toward idealized, Photoshopped perfection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Microsoft argued in an amicus brief that blacklisting Anthropic was an unprecendented response to a contract dispute that portended ill for the technology sector as well as the US military.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
When either, or both, of these signals have triggered five times or more combined within the span of five trading sessions, it has often portended trouble ahead, the SentimenTrader report said.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025
As his maiden voyage with the group, "The Yes Album" portended things to come.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2023
Becky brought back tales of sea monsters chasing the British fleet and a two-headed calf born outside Philadelphia that portended all manner of disaster.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Service companies reduced employment for the fifth time in the past six months, perhaps portending a weak August employment report on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Before they knew it, the sky turned dark, portending a storm.
From BBC ● May 29, 2025
Previous research has found that gelatinous zooplankton like velella and their fellow jellyfish thrive in warmer waters, portending an era some scientists have referred to as the “rise of slime.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
Cougars are our canaries in the coal mine, portending consequences of lost connectivity for all Southwest Washington.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
The messengers received an awful response, portending, in wild and solemn, though dark and mysterious language, the most dreadful calamities to the ill-fated city.
From Xerxes Makers of History by Jacob Abbott
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