premonitory

[ pri-mon-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]

adjective

1. giving premonition; serving to warn beforehand.

Word History and Origins

Origin of premonitory¹

From the Late Latin word praemonitōrius, dating back to 1640–50. See pre-, monitory

Example Sentences

Tempted as we may be to view this episode as premonitory, keep in mind these episodes were written and filmed many months ago.

From Salon

Adnan’s fantasy of escaping this planet’s gravity reverberates now with extra premonitory vision, but it’s also a lament of the violence we inflict upon it and ourselves, and the sadness of abandoning something so beautiful.

From New York Times

I was undressing in my own room, when, with a premonitory tap at the door, he entered, and at once began to speak:—

From Literature

I wondered, too, about a similar narrative distortion that aims to make Dean’s sense of an oncoming pandemic seem premonitory.

From Washington Post

A premonitory energy, an inchoate awareness, powers us along like a perfectly modulated engine, barely audible but filling every line with tension, the tension of knowing we’re heading inexorably toward the unknown.

From New York Times

Related Words

• apocalyptic
• dangerous
• dark
• dire
• dismal
• gloomy
• grim
• haunting
• perilous
• portentous
• prophetic
• sinister
• threatening