Foreshadow
verb /fɔːˈʃæd.əʊ/ — To hint at what is yet to come in a narrative
Definition
To be a warning or indication of a future event — to plant a shadow of what is coming before it arrives, creating dread, expectation, or irony.
Beyond the definition
The subtle art of letting the reader almost know. Foreshadowing creates the feeling that fate was always there, just not yet seen.
Origin & history
From 'fore' (before) + 'shadow' — the shadow cast backwards through time by a coming event.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The first scene foreshadowed the betrayal so precisely that a re-reading felt like inevitability.
Good foreshadowing is invisible the first time and obvious the second.
She foreshadowed the ending in the opening paragraph — not as a spoiler, but as a promise.
Synonyms
Antonyms
surprise, conceal, withhold
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Anticipation of a secret meeting
An adult stands in the shadowed corner of a moonlit garden, waiting with a tense, expectant posture for someone.
The tension of the wait shadows what is about to occur, serving as an indication of the future. The stillness and the setting cast a sense of impending action, letting the viewer feel the weight of the coming encounter before it begins.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration