adumbrate

[ ad-uhm-breyt, a-duhm-breyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ad·um·brat·ed, ad·um·brat·ing.

1. to produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.
2. to foreshadow; prefigure.
3. to darken or conceal partially; overshadow.

adumbrate

/ ædˈʌmbrətɪv; ˈædʌmˌbreɪt /

verb

1. to outline; give a faint indication of
2. to foreshadow
3. to overshadow; obscure

Derived Forms

• ˌadumˈbration, noun
• adˈumbratively, adverb
• adumbrative, adjective

Other Words From

• ad·um·bra·tion [ad-, uh, m-, brey, -sh, uh, n], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of adumbrate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of adumbrate¹

C16: from Latin adumbrātus represented only in outline, from adumbrāre to cast a shadow on, from umbra shadow

Example Sentences

There could have been a different outcome but for reasons too dull to adumbrate, we’ll leave it there.

From BBC

Passages of the original work underlined and adumbrated with exclamation marks and double or even treble question marks; phrases scored out and notes running down the margin at right angles to the printed text.

From The Guardian

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.

From Washington Post

But the happy chance to show a tranche of Gauguin pieces somehow morphed into an exhibition about his putative “spiritual journey,” which is adumbrated but not proved.

From Washington Post

The interpolated notebook entries, meanwhile, adumbrate a serpentine journey through Poland, Budapest, Belgrade, Croatia, Odessa, Sofia and Bucharest.

From New York Times