premonition

[ pree-muh-nish-uhn, prem-uh- ]

noun

1. a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event; presentiment:

   He had a vague premonition of danger.

   Synonyms: sign, omen, portent, foreboding

2. a forewarning.

premonition

/ prɪˈmɒnɪtərɪ; ˌprɛməˈnɪʃən; -trɪ /

noun

1. an intuition of a future, usually unwelcome, occurrence; foreboding
2. an early warning of a future event; forewarning

Derived Forms

• premonitory, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of premonition¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English premunicioun, from Late Latin praemonitiōn-, stem of praemonitiō “a forewarning”; equivalent to pre- + monition; also praemunire

Word History and Origins

Origin of premonition¹

C16: from Late Latin praemonitiō, from Latin praemonēre to admonish beforehand, from prae before + monēre to warn, advise

Example Sentences

The supermarket gave him a premonition of something sinister to come.

From Los Angeles Times

Dr. Bitton saw that, in a sense, everything that had passed between himself and Mr. Sinwar was a premonition of the events now coming to pass.

From New York Times

For an opera steeped in raptures and reveries, in which fantasies of romantic bliss compete with premonitions of a pessimistic outcome, Sierra and Bernheim were a dream at the revival’s second performance on Sunday.

From New York Times

Evil Ezekiel, meanwhile, hoards the spider peptides for himself, and 30 years later, he’s now a sort of cursed dark Spider-man, tormented by premonitions of being killed by a trio of spunky Spider-women.

From Los Angeles Times

His mostly unpublished premonitions were eerily prescient: Among others, he famously intuited the existence of the neutron from prior experiments.

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• foreboding
• hunch
• omen
• portent