How to Use foretell in a Sentence

foretell

verb
  • We cannot foretell the future.
  • But does the wet forecast foretell a cool-down?
    — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
  • But the stars do foretell some bright spots in your kitchen’s future.
    — Catherine Urban, Bon Appétit, 1 Apr. 2020
  • For most, such latitude foretells a long stretch to go.
    — Noah Barsky, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The festival got off to a rough start this year and may have proved foretelling.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023
  • Astrologers kept a careful watch on the sky for any change that might foretell doom.
    — Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2020
  • Bruckheimer is not one of the doomsayers foretelling the end of movies.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
  • But don’t believe there’s some magic way a poll can foretell the future.
    — Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Public employee unions seemed to have dodged their death foretold.
    — Garrett Epps, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2017
  • There were signs, at first, that Clinton’s sanguine stance had been foretelling.
    — Siva Vaidhyanathan, Wired, 27 Dec. 2019
  • The evidence foretells what’s in store for the future.
    — Keiji Horikawa, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
  • But making the drink would prove to be the easiest task, as Green had foretold.
    — Jeff Gordinier, Esquire, 20 Apr. 2017
  • Democrats feared early on that a handful of Senate races foretold a night of gloom.
    — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 7 Nov. 2018
  • And the loss of prominent starters to injuries foretells perhaps more gloom to come.
    — Zach Schonbrun, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2017
  • The vision of a phantom black dog foretells death in many parts of Great Britain.
    — Kim Campbell Thornton, sacbee, 27 Oct. 2017
  • Volatility, again, is stressful but does not foretell the doom of bitcoin.
    — Sean Stein Smith, Forbes, 22 June 2021
  • Schwartz and Raquel kiss, as has been foretold by the gossip press, at Scheana’s wedding.
    — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 20 Mar. 2023
  • But Jobs’ success doesn’t foretell the same outcome for others.
    — Paige McGlauflin, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2023
  • That leads to a 10-minute sequence that foretells each character’s fate for the rest of the movie.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024
  • The minute that happened, Farm Bank’s collapse was foretold.
    — Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
  • As foretold in the ritual, she had been beheaded by the force of the landslide.
    — Carlo Gabuco, National Geographic, 9 Apr. 2019
  • In the short term, the plan would appear to foretell a significant step back in the standings.
    — Rustin Dodd, kansascity, 18 Feb. 2018
  • If so, what does that foretell about the nature of the therapy that is about to get underway?
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
  • For Krasner, who spent his own life among those accused of crime, this was a reckoning foretold.
    — Christine M. Flowers, Philly.com, 8 Jan. 2018
  • The inscription seems to foretell the return of a Scottish ruler.
    — Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 5 May 2023
  • Tarot foretells the news that is manifesting and provides a warning.
    — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 15 Nov. 2025
  • That the loss of a king could be foretold by the loss of the very light in the sky made a certain kind of 12th century sense.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 18 Aug. 2017
  • To be sure, these survey results don’t foretell smooth sailing – the pressures are real and diverse.
    — Derek Newton, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023
  • But in the book there’s a section of Maggy’s prophecy that foretells Cersei’s death as well.
    — Joanna Robinson, VanityFair.com, 27 May 2017
  • Those are the easy things to foretell; anyone with the slightest familiarity of the job market can get that far.
    — Eli Amdur, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foretell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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