foregone conclusions
Results already decided
A foregone conclusion is an outcome regarded as inevitable or already determined before events unfold: The election was a foregone conclusion once the scandal broke.
The phrase often implies that deliberation or competition is merely a formality.
Something presented as undecided may be dismissed as a foregone conclusion when the result seems obvious to everyone.
- cinchesEffortless victories
- sure thingGuaranteed outcome or agreement
- open and shutRequiring no deliberation
- cut and driedSettled beforehand, inflexible
- fatePredetermined course of events
inevitability · predictability · certainty · signed sealed delivered · predestination · preordained · outcome · stacked deck · presumption · inexorable · confirmation bias · prejudices · determinism · fatalism · fait accompli · groupthink · expectation · writing on the wall
foregone conclusionsunknowns
Undetermined quantities
toss-ups · coin flips · wild cards · mysteries · variables
foregone conclusionscliffhangers
Unresolved dramatic conclusions
nail-biters · photo finishes · surprise endings · plot twists · dark horses
foregone, conclusion, forgo, foregoing, conclude, concluded, concluding, conclusive, conclusively