Nostradamus
Renaissance prophecy author
Nostradamus was a 16th-century French astrologer and physician whose cryptic prophecies, published as *Les Prophéties*, have made him history's most famous supposed seer.
His verses are vague enough that people have claimed they predict everything from the Great Fire of London to 9/11.
Used figuratively, calling someone a Nostradamus suggests they've made an eerily accurate prediction: Look at you, Nostradamus—you called it.
Foretelling of future events
- predictionForecast of coming events
- quatrainsVerses of four lines
- foretellingAnnouncing future events
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
revelation · doom · fate · destiny · end times · millennium · Antichrist · cataclysm
Verses of four lines
- centuriesHundred-year periods
- predictionsForecasts of future events
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
end times · revelation · foretelling · prognostication · forewarning · premonition · portent · harbinger
Authoritative wisdom source
- seerOne who envisions futures
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- soothsayerOne who predicts futures
clairvoyant · prognosticator · diviner · augur · sibyl · sage · mystic · fortune-teller
The years 1500-1599
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- FrenchOf or from Paris's nation
- physicianLicensed medical doctor
- apothecaryHistorical medicine preparer
Provence · Catherine de' Medici · plague · almanacs · quatrains · courtier · scholar · humanist
Divination by celestial positions
- horoscopeZodiac-based fortune telling
- natal chartStar positions at birth
- zodiacCelestial belt of signs
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
alchemy · scrying · clairvoyance · oracle · soothsayer · seer · augur · sibyl
Obscure in meaning
- ambiguousHaving multiple interpretations
- obscureUnknown to most
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- indecipherableImpossible to understand
mysterious · vague · opaque · riddle · puzzle · interpretation · anagram · coded
The 1500s
- FranceWestern European republic
- ProvenceSoutheastern French region
- French courtGallic royal government
- plagueDeadly epidemic disease
Catherine de Medici · physician · apothecary · Latin · Greek · humanism · printing press · Reformation
Films depicting real events
- conspiracy theoriesUnproven secret plot beliefs
- interpretationsExplanations of meaning
- believersThose having faith
- skepticsThose who doubt claims
debunkers · bestseller · pop culture · pseudoscience · sensationalism · doomsday
Factual film about reality
- conspiracy theoryAttributed to hidden plotters
- debunkedExposed as fraudulent
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
- believerOne who accepts something
interpreter · translations · misattributed · viral hoax · hindsight bias · confirmation bias · pop culture · sensationalism
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
- predictionForecast of coming events
- quatrainsVerses of four lines
- foretellingAnnouncing future events
apocalypse · revelation · doom · fate · destiny · end times · millennium · Antichrist · cataclysm · foresight
quatrains
Verses of four lines
- centuriesHundred-year periods
- predictionsForecasts of future events
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
apocalyptic · end times · revelation · foretelling · prognostication · forewarning · premonition · portent · harbinger · presage
oracle
Authoritative wisdom source
- seerOne who envisions futures
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
soothsayer · clairvoyant · prognosticator · diviner · augur · sibyl · sage · mystic · fortune-teller · psychic
sixteenth-century
The years 1500-1599
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- FrenchOf or from Paris's nation
- physicianLicensed medical doctor
apothecary · Provence · Catherine de' Medici · plague · almanacs · quatrains · courtier · scholar · humanist · Latin
astrology
Divination by celestial positions
- horoscopeZodiac-based fortune telling
- natal chartStar positions at birth
- zodiacCelestial belt of signs
divination · alchemy · scrying · clairvoyance · oracle · soothsayer · seer · augur · sibyl · medium
cryptic
Obscure in meaning
- ambiguousHaving multiple interpretations
- obscureUnknown to most
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
indecipherable · mysterious · vague · opaque · riddle · puzzle · interpretation · anagram · coded · symbolism
16th century
The 1500s
- FranceWestern European republic
- ProvenceSoutheastern French region
- French courtGallic royal government
Catherine de Medici · plague · physician · apothecary · Latin · Greek · humanism · printing press · Reformation · almanac
documentaries
Films depicting real events
- conspiracy theoriesUnproven secret plot beliefs
- interpretationsExplanations of meaning
- believersThose having faith
skeptics · debunkers · bestseller · pop culture · pseudoscience · sensationalism · doomsday
documentary
Factual film about reality
- conspiracy theoryAttributed to hidden plotters
- debunkedExposed as fraudulent
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
believer · interpreter · translations · misattributed · viral hoax · hindsight bias · confirmation bias · pop culture · sensationalism
- astrologersastrologer
- French FiguresNapoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Joan of Arc, Louis XIV, Louis XVI
- psychicspsychic, psychics, fortune teller, clairvoyant, clairvoyants
- SeersCassandra, Tiresias, sibyl, oracle of Delphi, soothsayer
- Doomsayersdoomsday preacher, Cassandra, prophets of doom, Chicken Little
- French Occultists
Nostradamusskeptic
One who doubts claims
debunker · Carl Sagan · false prophet · fraud · charlatan
Nostradamusempiricist
Knowledge-from-experience advocate
scientist · rationalist · Francis Bacon · Galileo · Isaac Newton