Synonyms for portend
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To serve as a warning or omen of.
Related words
- Word family
- portender portent portentous
Forms
- Past participle
- portended
e.g. portended → presaged, foreshadowed, boded, predicted…
Choose the right word
Dissipation among the officers and mutiny among the crew portend disaster.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- bode The sound of a trumpet will bode the end of the world.
- foretell It's completely impossible to foretell his reaction.
- presage A crow's cry at midnight was said to presage death in the village.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| portend | steady | |
| bode | rising | |
| foreshadow | steady | |
| foretell | steady | |
| presage | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- omen2, bode1
- 5 letters
- augur2
- 7 letters
- predict2, presage2, betoken
- 8 letters
- forecast2, threaten2, prophesy, foretell2, forebode2, foreshow
- 9 letters
- prefigure, foretoken, auspicate
- 10 letters
- foreshadow3, vaticinate
- 13 letters
- prognosticate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (omen2 = 2 syllables).