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

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

From New York Times

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

From New York Times

In 2007, a year before the financial collapse, he lands at a hedge fund that he gives the pseudonym Pateras—Polk takes every opportunity to adumbrate the patriarchal culture of the industry—where he becomes the head of distressed-securities trading, an apt position for a person who is himself deeply distressed and on a self-defining quest to achieve personal security.

From The New Yorker

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

From The Guardian