soothsay
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of soothsay
First recorded in 1600–10; back formation from soothsayer
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:
But, he added, the ability to soothsay where a young man is going to be five years from now requires the scout to dig even deeper.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 7, 2016
A regular monthly column, for example, is called "Haruspex," for the Roman soothsay ers who divined the future by poking through the entrails of sacrificial animals.
From Time Magazine Archive
As soon as he was a little restored, Dontsovna came to him to soothsay; but she told him nothing good.
From With Fire and Sword An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Oddly enough, though every one in the Settlement had heard the soothsay, and nobody doubted it, she was the only person concerned who took it closely to heart.
From Gudrid the Fair A Tale of the Discovery of America by Maurice Henry Hewlett
Beyond forests, beyond mountains, lived in the Crimea a certain kind woman named Lala, who could soothsay.
From Hania by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Not thankful: All the hand-wringing and apocalyptic soothsaying about how artificial intelligence is a Pandora’s box that will steal our jobs and ultimately spell our doom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
At least this is definitive proof that The Post doesn’t pay me for soothsaying.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2017
This soothsaying language extended beyond just media outlets.
From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2016
Honestly, there was so much loudmouthed soothsaying that it was hard to tell who was saying what.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 21, 2016
Numerology, especially in its soothsaying and divinatory aspects, is in many ways a typical pseudoscience.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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