as in to anticipate
to give a slight indication of beforehand
the strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adumbrate
In between, works by contemporaries complicate superficial ideas about his meteoric genius, and small, delicate drawings teem with an abundance of ideas — paintings never made, thoughts adumbrated then abandoned.
—
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
Nothing in America’s tepid 19th-century contributions to European classical music adumbrated it; nor did the homely and sometimes hokey popular songs of Stephen Foster.
—Heather Mac Donald, National Review, 22 Aug. 2019
The helicopter crash, on the other hand, is a narrative dead end, merely adumbrating the portrait that Mr. Davenport will draw of Mr. Bezos as unflappable.
—Randall Stross, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adumbrate
Verb
-
The institute also launched a wastewater surveillance project, geared at monitoring and anticipating disease trends in communities.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Here’s an example from early on in their epic duel, as Carreras anticipates Ronald Araujo’s pass into Yamal, and is quick to close him down in frame one.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Bacon takes his time getting to the fateful voyage; there are myriad sidebars of varying interest on topics such as Great Lakes shipping and the rise of taconite, two lake wrecks that foreshadowed the Fitz, even the sailors’ favorite watering holes.—
Kevin Duchschere,
Boston Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
-
The deployment of a carrier strike group represents a significant escalation in that campaign and could foreshadow the beginning of airstrikes against targets in Venezuela.—
Davis Winkie,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Those who predicted a doomed future for all of humanity called us addicts and criminals, leeches and slime (and way worse things) because we were detested, shouted at, dragged by our arms across bedrooms and public sporting events.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Despite what the students view as anti-conservative bias, one predicted a conservative uprising, citing the assassination of Charlie Kirk as fuel for more right-leaning college students to speak out.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
These opulent volumes prefigure the label’s high jewelry offering.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Your 2018 book, The Lies That Bind, seems to have prefigured the backlash against a certain way of talking about identity—as essential or at least fixed—that was prevalent in the 2010s.—
Lula Konner,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Futures and prediction markets imply that by early 2026 the policy rate lands modestly lower than today but not back to the zero-rate world.—
Robert Daugherty,
Forbes.com,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts, not remain in parks or other locations that imply honor.—
NPR,
NPR,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
As a conservative nationalist Takaichi’s elevation to prime minister could herald more strained ties with neighbors such as China and South Korea which both suffered at the hands of Japanese invaders and occupiers before and during World War II.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Springsteen felt after Born to Run put him on the covers of both Time and Newsweek the same week, and heralded rock and roll’s next superstar.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Those with clout in various spheres coalesced into one clubby circle, and fell prey to a groupthink that foresaw riches for everyone, without consequences.—
Evan Hughes,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
-
But in a turn of events that no one at the distillery could have foreseen, this almost didn’t happen—on July 31, a truckload of Westland whiskey worth almost $1 million, including nearly half of the Garryana bottles, was stolen.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adumbrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adumbrate. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share