adumbrate

American  

[a-duhm-breyt, ad-uhm-breyt] / æˈdʌm breɪt, ˈæd əmˌbreɪt /

verb (used with object)

adumbrated, adumbrating

1. to produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.

2. to foreshadow; prefigure.

3. to darken or conceal partially; overshadow.

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adumbrate British  

/ ædˈʌmbrətɪv, ˈædʌmˌbreɪt /

verb

1. to outline; give a faint indication of

2. to foreshadow

3. to overshadow; obscure

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Other Word Forms

• adumbration noun
• adumbrative adjective
• adumbratively adverb

Etymology

Origin of adumbrate

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin adumbrātus “shaded,” past participle of adumbrāre “to shade,” from ad- ad- + umbr(a) “shade, shadow” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix

Example Sentences

His photographs have used a variety of techniques to adumbrate this world.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2017

Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian But as soon as you adumbrate thus, you are beset with misgivings.

From The Guardian • Apr. 19, 2016

Together with the bare facts of the retreat at Walden, those lines have become the ones by which we adumbrate Thoreau, so that our image of the man has also become simplified and inspirational.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 19, 2015

Luther, Calvin and Wesley are as upstarts to him, whose phrases adumbrate the flowery staff of St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury.

From Time Magazine Archive

One could adumbrate triumph or disaster by the effort, sustained or otherwise, made by them.

From The Soul of Susan Yellam by Vachell, Horace Annesley