foreordained
Fated from before
Foreordained means determined or decreed in advance, especially by divine will or fate.
What is foreordained was settled before it happened and could not have been otherwise: Some believe our destinies are foreordained.
The word carries theological weight—God foreordains events—but also appears in secular contexts suggesting inevitability: The outcome seemed foreordained from the start.
Decided in advance
- fatedDetermined by destiny
- inevitableCertain to occur
- decreedFormally ordered by authority
- doomedDestined for destruction
prearranged · inescapable · certain · fixed · written · sealed · appointed · meant to be
Predetermined course of events
- kismetPreordained future outcome
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
- fortuneWealth or destiny
lot · fatalism · necessity · providence · wheel of fortune · stars · cosmic order · inevitability
Divine protective care
- divine willGod's sovereign intention
- electionOrganized public voting
- decreeAuthoritative legal command
- ordainmentFormal religious appointment
grace · salvation · sovereignty · omniscience · determinism · theodicy · free will · chosen
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- foretellingAnnouncing future events
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- omenProphetic indicator
augury · seer · soothsayer · revelation · portent · presage · harbinger · prognostication
predestined
Decided in advance
- fatedDetermined by destiny
- inevitableCertain to occur
- decreedFormally ordered by authority
doomed · prearranged · inescapable · certain · fixed · written · sealed · appointed · meant to be · in the cards
destiny
Predetermined course of events
fortune · lot · fatalism · necessity · providence · wheel of fortune · stars · cosmic order · inevitability · life path
providence
Divine protective care
- divine willGod's sovereign intention
- electionOrganized public voting
- decreeAuthoritative legal command
ordainment · grace · salvation · sovereignty · omniscience · determinism · theodicy · free will · chosen · elect
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- foretellingAnnouncing future events
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
omen · augury · seer · soothsayer · revelation · portent · presage · harbinger · prognostication · sibyl
foreordainedrandom
Occurring without pattern
accidental · chance · fortuitous · spontaneous · serendipitous
foreordaineduncertain
Not firmly known
unpredictable · indeterminate · undecided · up in the air · unsettled