Prophetic
adjective /prəˈfɛtɪk/ — Accurately foretelling — the quality of a statement that turns out to have been right before it could be known.
Definition
Accurately describing or predicting what will happen in the future; relating to or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy.
Beyond the definition
Prophetic is the word we reach for when something said earlier turns out to have been right — often uneasily right. The prophetic quality is usually recognized in retrospect, which is its most uncomfortable feature: we could have known, and didn't act.
Origin & history
From Greek prophētikos — prophetic (from prophētes: prophet, from pro: before + phēnai: to speak). Speaking before — saying the thing before its time arrives.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
Her speech proved prophetic — every crisis she'd named in it arrived within three years.
He made the observation casually at the time; looking back, it was prophetic in a way that made him uneasy.
Prophetic art doesn't predict — it sees the present so clearly that the future becomes legible.
Synonyms
prescient, visionary, oracular, predictive, foretelling
Antonyms
mistaken, off-target, false
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
Landscape with ancient and modern
An adult looks over a landscape showing crumbling ancient ruins in the foreground and a modern city in the distance.
The coexistence of eras indicates an understanding of past and future. This vision of temporal change has a prophetic quality, accurately describing the progression of time.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration