presentiment

American  

[pri-zen-tuh-muhnt] / prɪˈzɛn tə mənt /

noun

1. a feeling or impression that something is about to happen, especially something evil; foreboding.

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presentiment British  

/ prɪˈzɛntɪmənt /

noun

1. a sense of something about to happen; premonition

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Other Word Forms

• presentimental adjective

Etymology

Origin of presentiment

1705–15; < French, now obsolete spelling of pressentiment. See pre-, sentiment

Explanation

Do you ever have the feeling that something bad is about to happen? That’s called a presentiment. The word presentiment comes from the Latin word præsentire, meaning “to sense beforehand.” Some people call it a "gut feeling." For example, if you leave for a trip and something doesn't feel right, you may chalk it up to just being nervous. But later, when your flight is cancelled and you lose your luggage, you may remember that little twinge — the presentiment that something bad was about to happen.

Example Sentences

It’s the type of hazards and presentiment that feel inherent to womanhood.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2024

Though it got pretty bad reviews at the time, it now looks like a presentiment of the trauma launched on New York on 9/11.

From The Guardian • Feb. 27, 2020

Or maybe Mami had a presentiment of what was to come.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 15, 2010

Maybe it was a presentiment, maybe it was the sort of destiny that Yiddish calls “goyrl.”

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2010

It snowed before dawn, a light dusting of snowflakes, a presentiment of the deep snows that would come further into the winter.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman