soothsayer
Seer of events
A soothsayer is a person who claims to foretell the future.
The word carries an archaic, mystical flavor—you're more likely to encounter soothsayers in Shakespeare or fantasy novels than in everyday conversation: The soothsayer warned Caesar to beware the Ides of March.
Unlike prophet, which suggests divine inspiration, soothsayer implies divination through signs, omens, or arcane methods.
Authoritative wisdom source
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
- seerOne who envisions futures
- sibylAncient female prophet
- augurOne who reads omens
clairvoyant · psychic · medium · diviner · fortune-teller · pythia · shaman · astrologer
Announcing future events
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forecastPrediction of future conditions
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
presage · portent · harbinger · omen · forewarning · foreshadowing · revelation · vision
Sign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- presageIndicate beforehand
- auspiceProphetic token or portent
- signMark conveying information
warning · foreboding · herald · token · prodigy · augury · thunderbolt · comet
Spirit communication ritual
- OuijaLettered séance board
- planchetteSéance writing device
- tranceSemiconscious, unresponsive condition
- possessionState of owning
spirit · ectoplasm · tarot · runes · pentacle · incantation · ritual · invocation
Omen interpretation practice
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
- scryingVisionary surface-gazing
chiromancy · geomancy · necromancy · bibliomancy · theurgy
oracle
Authoritative wisdom source
augur · clairvoyant · psychic · medium · diviner · fortune-teller · pythia · shaman · astrologer · palmist
foretelling
Announcing future events
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- forecastPrediction of future conditions
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
premonition · presage · portent · harbinger · omen · forewarning · foreshadowing · revelation · vision · augury
portent
Sign of future calamity
sign · warning · foreboding · herald · token · prodigy · augury · thunderbolt · comet · eclipse
séance
Spirit communication ritual
- OuijaLettered séance board
- planchetteSéance writing device
- tranceSemiconscious, unresponsive condition
possession · spirit · ectoplasm · tarot · runes · pentacle · incantation · ritual · invocation · familiar
augury
Omen interpretation practice
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
scrying · chiromancy · geomancy · necromancy · bibliomancy · theurgy
delphic
Enigmatically prophetic or obscure
- supernaturalghosts, ghost, witches, spirits, vampire
- fantasy rolesarcher, barbarian, sorceress, mage, wizard
- divinationdivination, fortune telling, fortune-telling, fortune teller, tarot
- Julius CaesarJulius Caesar, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Marc Antony
- occultistswitches, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses, warlocks
- oraclesoracle, sibyl, prophetess, seer, Delphi
soothsayerhistorian
Expert on past events
chronicler · archivist · archaeologist · antiquarian · annalist
soothsayerskeptic
One who doubts claims
empiricist · scientist · rationalist · debunker · realist