predict
Americanverb (used with object)
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predicts,
present (3rd person singular)
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predicted,
past participle, past
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predicting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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predicts,
present (3rd person singular)
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predicted,
past participle, past
-
predicting
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
Predict, prophesy, foresee, forecast mean to know or tell (usually correctly) beforehand what will happen. To predict is usually to foretell with precision of calculation, knowledge, or shrewd inference from facts or experience: The astronomers can predict an eclipse; it may, however, be used without the implication of underlying knowledge or expertise: I predict she'll be a success at the party. Prophesy usually means to predict future events by the aid of divine or supernatural inspiration: Merlin prophesied the two knights would meet in conflict; this verb, too, may be used in a more general, less specific sense. I prophesy he'll be back in the old job. To foresee refers specifically not to the uttering of predictions but to the mental act of seeing ahead; there is often (but not always) a practical implication of preparing for what will happen: He was clever enough to foresee this shortage of materials. Forecast has much the same meaning as predict; it is used today particularly of the weather and other phenomena that cannot easily be accurately predicted: Rain and snow are forecast for tonight. Economists forecast a rise in family income.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predictabilitynoun
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mispredictverb
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predictableadjective
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unpredictedadjective
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unpredictingadjective
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predictablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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predictsimple
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predictssimple
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have predictedperfect
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has predictedperfect
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am predictingprogressive
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are predictingprogressive
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is predictingprogressive
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have been predictingperfect progressive
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has been predictingperfect progressive
Past
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predictedsimple
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had predictedperfect
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was predictingprogressive
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were predictingprogressive
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had been predictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of predict
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin praedictus, past participle of praedīcere “to foretell,” equivalent to prae- “before, earlier” + dic-, variant stem of dīcere “to say” + -tus past participle suffix; see pre-, dictum
Explanation
To predict is to say what you think is going to happen in the future. If you predict that you'll win the poker championship, you're either really confident in your poker skills or you're cheating. The prefix pre means "before." Dict comes from the Latin dicere, which means "to say," yet you can use predict to refer to things that can't say anything at all. Darkening skies can predict a coming storm, for example, and a runny nose can predict a cold. You can predict something based on factual evidence, or on a crystal-ball reading, or just on plain intuition.
Vocabulary lists containing predict
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 1
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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:
Researchers can then test how different factors influence a process and predict what might happen when certain conditions change.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
“It’s hard to predict exactly what will happen, but just based on forecasts, we’re preparing for more damage,” Martin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Scientists predict that the plastic pellets will continue to wash up on North East beaches as the clean up continues.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
It learns from the order and timing of a borrower’s transactions to predict their ability to repay debt, and the likelihood of delinquency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
He believes that dreams predict the future, if we know how to interpret them.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Known as the hybrid model, it predicts that quark-gluon plasma should react like a fluid when energetic particles travel through it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
So Bierton predicts it won't be just Benin players who will be after the jersey.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
However, the forecast predicts that AI investment will begin to produce job gains next year and in 2028, even as the cuts have depressed California’s jobs picture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
AlphaFold predicts three-dimensional protein structure with extraordinary accuracy, drawing on decades of experimental information, strong biological constraints and an answer that can be evaluated directly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Scientists use something called a correlation to measure how closely one factor predicts another, and overall, the students’ ratings correlated with the experts’ ratings by .55, which is quite a high correlation.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
What are the best and worst case predicted scenarios?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Officials had predicted that tides in Southern California would be 1 foot to 1.5 feet above normal what would ordinarily be expected without the abnormally warm ocean temperatures wrought by El Niño.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
Existing fusion experiments have not reached the temperatures associated with the Cordey saddle, preventing scientists from testing the predicted route under those conditions.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
A Washington industry lobbyist interviewed by AFP predicted a pragmatic approach from companies.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
A weather forecaster in Columbus, Ohio, predicted: “Low today, 48: high, 4,800.”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
When several different microorganisms are associated with a disease, identifying the responsible bacteria, predicting outbreaks, and developing consistently effective treatments become more challenging.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Three decades after predicting the Asian crisis of 1997, one strategist pinpoints similarities between the financial contagion that spread across Asian economies then and the current AI investment boom that he thinks is a bubble.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Forecasters are predicting it will be even warmer next year," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
"I hear, here and there, the prophets of doom predicting the worst," said Finance Minister Roland Lescure regarding France's ability to service its debt.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
“He had a system for predicting how a horse would do, based on what horse was on either side of him, based on their emotional relationship,” Ekman remembers.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
