foretell applies to the telling of the coming of a future event by any procedure or any source of information.
seers foretold the calamity
predict commonly implies inference from facts or accepted laws of nature.
astronomers predicted an eclipse
forecast adds the implication of anticipating eventualities and differs from predict in being usually concerned with probabilities rather than certainties.
forecast snow
prophesy connotes inspired or mystic knowledge of the future especially as the fulfilling of divine threats or promises.
prophesying a new messiah
prognosticate is used less often than the other words; it may suggest learned or skilled interpretation, but more often it is simply a colorful substitute for predict or prophesy.
prognosticating the future
Examples of foretell in a Sentence
We cannot foretell the future.
a 16th-century astrologer who, some claim, accurately foretold 20th-century events
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The Sibyl appears in the epigraph of The Wasteland, unable to foretell her own death.—Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025 Oberon’s strides foretold the ability of Dev Patel, of Gujarati descent, to assume the title role in The Personal History of David Copperfield, based on the Charles Dickens novel.—Mayukh Sen, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2025 Kessler’s hiring could foretell antitrust litigation that would rattle a hockey world already coming to terms with the NCAA allowing more junior players to join Division I college teams.—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 25 Jan. 2025 Written soon after the death of Mahler’s daughter and soon before his own, the symphony is a sombre, reflective, and reverberant adieu, brewing such melancholy that Leonard Bernstein theorized that Mahler was foretelling his own end.—The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for foretell
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