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
What shall I tell?" said Antonio, with the deepest anguish: "do not you seem to know everything, or else to have learnt it by soothsay?
From The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano Tales from the German of Tieck by Tieck, Ludwig
V. predict, prognosticate, prophesy, vaticinate, divine, foretell, soothsay, augurate†, tell fortunes; cast a horoscope, cast a nativity; advise; forewarn &c.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark
"Thou must be wealthy and art bountiful, so it is worth while to soothsay for thee."
From The Pharaoh and the Priest An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt by Curtin, Jeremiah
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
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.
