How to Use preordain in a Sentence

preordain

verb
  • Memes may not be preordained, but this one is more predictable than most.
    — Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2020
  • The last of the proxy defeats was preordained.
    — Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
  • But bears cautioned that the rebound was preordained and may not stick.
    — Jeremy Herron, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2020
  • None of the great movements that shaped this country was preordained.
    — Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Indeed, some of the great foods and beverages of all time were not planned or preordained at all.
    — Bill St. John, The Denver Post, 31 July 2019
  • Their cash for the next four years is preordained—thanks in large part of Russell’s failures.
    — The Si Staff, SI.com, 28 Aug. 2019
  • The question becomes whether that means his fate is preordained by virtue of his blood, his faith, or his skin color.
    — Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2017
  • But the agentic future is not preordained.
    — Marc Benioff, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Fans may respond as if the song is preordained; the results of the storyline are not.
    — Tom Roland, Billboard, 12 Nov. 2025
  • Her future, and those of her siblings, almost seemed preordained.
    — USA TODAY, 16 May 2023
  • Sports are inherently fraught with tension, but some seem preordained to it more than others.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
  • The city can request a hearing, Braun’s letter said, but the outcome is preordained.
    — Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Why waste time on speeches and testimony when the outcome is preordained?
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2019
  • At times, their concurrent ascent feels preordained.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The mission takes on the solemnity of a holy war, and the conclusion, even if it’s preordained, packs a shocking punch.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The idea of a hard partition between two ethno-religious states was not preordained.
    — Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Nothing, after all, is preordained.
    — Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Julia considers their friendship preordained, if only because both have pale blue eyes.
    — Laura Lippman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2017
  • Given the slow start to his pro career, a spot at the World Cup, never mind the starting nod, was far from preordained.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 10 June 2026
  • The answers that the commission may propose appear preordained by its makeup.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 10 July 2019
  • His essay makes clear that social progress isn’t guaranteed or preordained, and certainly not linear.
    — Indigo Olivier, The New Republic, 19 June 2023
  • This was the tournament that reminded us that champions should not be preordained, and that epitaphs should not be prewritten.
    — Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Mar. 2018
  • Our climate is not preordained to remain hospitable forever.
    — Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
  • What wasn’t preordained is just how beautifully executed the entire venture turns out to be.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Impeachment is now essentially preordained, but there is still a process to observe, and Democrats swiftly marched through it this week.
    — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2019
  • That Taguba, one of seven children, ended up becoming a soldier was not preordained.
    — Chris Fuchs /, NBC News, 25 May 2018
  • But watching Oladipo soar with the Pacers only reaffirms her belief that his current success was preordained.
    — Clifton Brown, Indianapolis Star, 17 Jan. 2018
  • No team in history has won between 38 and 40 games for four straight seasons, yet for the Bulls, this feels almost preordained.
    — John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • In the past, though, the ubiquity of fossil fuels preordained that consumption (and prices) would eventually rise and tempt investors back.
    — Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2019
  • When Macy and Jillian would take the court in their backyard, the outcome was pretty much preordained and Macy rarely came out on top.
    — Mick McCabe, Detroit Free Press, 13 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preordain.' 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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