foreshadow
Signal what's coming
Foreshadow means to hint at or suggest something that will happen later.
The term comes from literature, where early events or details prefigure later developments: The opening scene foreshadows the tragedy to come.
Outside fiction, foreshadow describes any early sign of what's ahead: Rising tensions foreshadowed the eventual conflict.
Indirect suggestion
- suggestOffer an idea indirectly
- alludeRefer indirectly
- implyIndicate without stating
- prefigureIndicate in advance
adumbrate · signify · telegraph · setup · payoff · Chekhov's gun · motif · symbolism
Foretelling of future events
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- portentSign of future calamity
- prognosticationForetelling future events
divination · oracle · auspice · foretoken · herald · sign · premonition · foreboding
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosticateForetell future events
- projectPlanned, effortful task
- anticipateExpect beforehand
- envisionPicture in thought
foresee · extrapolate · estimate · speculate · conjecture · projection · hypothesis · calculate
Careful attention to risk
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- forewarnAlert in advance
- admonitionMild verbal correction
- signalMessage-conveying cue
indicator · red flag · harbinger · threat · menace · alarm · notice · advisory
Stretched or strained state
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
unease · buildup · anticipation · cliffhanger · hook · teaser · mystery · intrigue
hint
Indirect suggestion
prefigure · adumbrate · signify · telegraph · setup · payoff · Chekhov's gun · motif · symbolism · narrative
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
prognostication · divination · oracle · auspice · foretoken · herald · sign · premonition · foreboding · soothsaying
forecast
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosticateForetell future events
- projectPlanned, effortful task
- anticipateExpect beforehand
envision · foresee · extrapolate · estimate · speculate · conjecture · projection · hypothesis · calculate · deduce
caution
Careful attention to risk
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- forewarnAlert in advance
- admonitionMild verbal correction
signal · indicator · red flag · harbinger · threat · menace · alarm · notice · advisory
tension
Stretched or strained state
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
anxiety · unease · buildup · anticipation · cliffhanger · hook · teaser · mystery · intrigue · uncertainty
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- foretellingpredict, prophesy, foresee, forecast, divine
- beginningsbegin, beginning, start, first, opening
- omensomens, omen, portent, portents, signs
- preparationprepare, preparing, ready, readies, readiness
- presentationpresent, deliver, introduce, demonstrate, display
foreshadowing, foreshadowed, foreshadows, foreshadower, foreshadowings