INDEX:
1. to say what will happen in the future
2. to think you know what is going to happen in the future
3. something that someone predicts will happen
4. able to be predicted
5. not able to be predicted
6. someone with special powers to predict
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ FUTURE
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1. to say what will happen in the future
▷ predict /prɪˈdɪkt/ [transitive verb]
to say what you think will happen in the future :
▪ Most of the papers are predicting an easy victory for the Dallas Cowboys.
▪ a major earthquake that no-one had predicted
predict (that)
▪ Some scientists predict that the Earth’s temperature will rise by as much as 5° over the next 20 years.
▷ forecast /ˈfɔːʳkɑːstǁ-kæst/ [transitive verb]
to publicly say what will happen in the future with the weather or the economic or political situation, especially when you have special or technical knowledge :
▪ Property analysts forecast a fall in house prices.
forecast rain/fine weather/snow etc
▪ Rain is forecast for all parts of southern England tomorrow.
forecast that
▪ Hardly anyone had forecast that the drought would last so long.
▷ prophesy /ˈprɒfɪsaɪ, ˈprɒfəsaɪǁˈprɑː-/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to say that something will happen, especially because you have religious or magical powers :
▪ It is claimed that Ebba prophesied her own death from the plague.
prophesy that
▪ Jesus prophesied that one of his disciples would betray him.
prophesy about
▪ Her ability to prophesy about the future made many people think she was a witch.
▷ foretell /fɔːʳˈtel/ [transitive verb]
to say what will happen in the future, especially by using magical powers - used in literature and stories :
▪ Nostradamus is said to have foretold the rise of Hitler.
▪ Everything happened as Merlin foretold.
▷ second-guess /ˌsekənd ˈges/ [transitive verb]
to try to predict what an opponent will do in order to gain an advantage over them :
▪ I just couldn’t get the ball past him; he second-guessed me every time.
▪ Second-guessing the bank’s next move in the takeover bid proved very difficult.
2. to think you know what is going to happen in the future
▷ foresee /fɔːʳˈsiː/ [transitive verb]
to know that something is going to happen before it actually happens :
▪ No one foresaw the Great Depression of the thirties.
▪ Businesses are alarmed at the costs they foresee in complying with the new rules.
foresee that
▪ Ten years ago she could not have foreseen that her marriage would end in divorce.
▷ envisage also envision /ɪnˈvɪzɪdʒ, ɪnˈvɪʒ ə n/ [transitive verb]
to have a clear idea of something that will happen in the future, especially important changes in a situation :
▪ I cannot envisage what the circumstances will be in twenty years’ time.
▪ Most of those who voted for independence did not envision war as the eventual outcome.
▪ We do not envisage a general election for at least another two years.
▷ see something coming /ˌsiː something ˈkʌmɪŋ/ [verb phrase]
to know or think you know what is going to happen because there are signs that it will :
▪ Jason saw the stock market crash coming and sold most of his shares.
▪ Then one day she just walked out -- I suppose I should have seen it coming really.
▷ feel something in your bones /ˌfiːl something ɪn jɔːʳ ˈbəʊnz/ [verb phrase] informal
to think that something is going to happen, especially something bad, not for any clear or specific reason, but just because you have a feeling that it will :
▪ The trip’s going to be a disaster - I can feel it in my bones.
▷ have a premonition /hæv ə ˌpriːməˈnɪʃ ə n/ [verb phrase]
to have a strange or unexplainable feeling that something is going to happen, especially something unpleasant :
have a premonition (that)
▪ When Paola failed to phone, John had a horrible premonition that she was in danger.
have a premonition of
▪ She shivered suddenly, and I wondered whether she had had a premonition of her own death.
▷ see into the future /ˌsiː ɪntə ðə ˈfjuːtʃəʳ/ [verb phrase]
someone who can see into the future has the ability to know what will happen before it happens :
▪ If I could only see into the future and know how this would all end.
▪ Nobody can see into the future, and all stock exchange investment is a gamble.
3. something that someone predicts will happen
▷ prediction /prɪˈdɪkʃ ə n/ [countable noun]
a statement saying what you think will happen in the future :
▪ Despite their confident predictions, sales of the new car have not been very good.
make a prediction
▪ It’s too early to make any predictions about the election results.
▷ forecast /ˈfɔːʳkɑːstǁ-kæst/ [countable noun]
a public statement saying what is likely to happen with the weather or with the economic or political situation, based on special or technical knowledge :
the weather forecast
a statement in a newspaper, or on the TV or radio, saying what the weather will be like during the next few days
▪ According to the weather forecast, it’s going to stay hot for the rest of the week.
give/make a forecast
▪ It is impossible to give an accurate forecast of company sales 10 years from now.
▷ prophecy /ˈprɒfɪsi, ˈprɒfəsiǁˈprɑː-/ [countable noun]
a statement that says something will happen, especially made by someone with religious or magical powers :
prophecy of
▪ The old woman’s prophecies of disaster were soon fulfilled.
prophecy that
▪ Lij Yasu was never crowned, possibly because he believed a prophecy that if he became king he would die.
▪ Amazingly, the manager’s prophecy that the team would get into the first division seems to be coming true.
▷ prognosis /prɒgˈnəʊsɪs, prɒgˈnəʊsəsǁprɑːg-/ [countable noun] formal
the likely result of a process such as an illness or a series of events that has already started :
▪ Well, doctor, what’s the prognosis?
▪ By the early 1990s the prognosis for Communism wasn’t at all good.
▷ predicted /prɪˈdɪktɪd, prɪˈdɪktəd/ [adjective usually before noun]
showing what someone thinks will happen in the future :
▪ More than a century after Marx, the predicted dissolution of capitalism has still not taken place.
▪ There were several arrests for disorderly behaviour, but for the most part the much-predicted violence did not materialize.
▷ projected /prəˈdʒektɪd, prəˈdʒektəd/ [adjective usually before noun]
projected figures/sales/profits/results
the profits, sales etc that a business expects to achieve considering past and present performance :
▪ Next year’s projected sales are 5% higher than this year’s.
▪ The company’s losses look likely to wipe out the projected profits on the ECR90 project.
4. able to be predicted
▷ predictable /prɪˈdɪktəb ə l/ [adjective]
▪ The drug is usually effective but unfortunately the side effects are not always predictable.
▪ There are few predictable elements to this conflict -- the only certainty is that the situation will worsen before it gets better.
it is predictable that
▪ In the current economic climate it is fairly predictable that unemployment will continue to rise.
▷ foreseeable /fɔːʳˈsiːəb ə l/ [adjective]
able to be predicted within a particular period of time in the future :
▪ Due to rising costs and delays in the delivery of equipment, losses are already foreseeable on the new tunnel project.
in the foreseeable future
▪ There will not be any redundancies in the foreseeable future.
foreseeable circumstances
▪ Your insurance policy should take into account all foreseeable circumstances.
5. not able to be predicted
▷ can’t say/tell /ˌkɑːnt ˈseɪ, ˈtelǁˌkænt-/ [verb phrase] informal
to be unable to say or predict what will happen :
can’t say/tell how/what/whether
▪ The doctors can’t say whether he will recover at this stage.
▪ I don’t know if we’ll stay together or not. I can’t tell how I’ll be feeling in a month’s time.
▷ unpredictable /ˌʌnprɪˈdɪktəb ə l/ [adjective]
something that is unpredictable is impossible to predict because the situation changes a lot and has no regular pattern :
▪ Britain is well known for its unpredictable weather.
▪ Mayoral elections are usually unpredictable, highly dependent on the particular appeal of personalities and the ability to form coalitions.
highly unpredictable
▪ The situation in the region’s poorest country remains volatile and highly unpredictable.
▷ unforeseeable /ˌʌnfɔːʳˈsiːəb ə l/ [adjective]
a situation or event, especially a bad one, that is unforeseeable could not have been predicted because it is the result of unusually bad luck :
▪ What happened the following weekend was as unforeseeable as a plane falling on your house.
▪ The circumstances which combined to cause this accident were unforeseeable.
▷ it remains to be seen /ɪt rɪˌmeɪnz tə biː ˈsiːn/
use this to show that you are unable or unwilling to say what will happen, and so people have to wait and see :
▪ ‘What is your next film going to be about?’ ‘Well, that remains to be seen.’
▪ What remains to be seen now is whether it is too late to save the rainforests.
it remains to be seen how/when/if etc
▪ It remains to be seen how many senior citizens will actually benefit from this new plan.
6. someone with special powers to predict
▷ fortune teller /ˈfɔːʳtʃ ə n ˌteləʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who tells people what will happen to them in the future and is paid for doing this :
▪ I went to see a fortune teller, and she told me that I would meet the man of my dreams and have three children.
▷ clairvoyant /kleəʳˈvɔɪənt/ [countable noun]
someone who has the ability to know what will happen in the future :
▪ A clairvoyant predicted that something terrible would happen to the President.
clairvoyance [countable noun]
the ability to know what will happen in the future: :
▪ Local legends told of a family in which the women were all cursed with clairvoyance.
▷ psychic /ˈsaɪkɪk/ [adjective] spoken
someone who is psychic is able to know what will happen in the future - used especially when saying that you cannot know what will happen, or when you are surprised that someone knew that something would happen :
▪ How was I supposed to know she’d react like that? I’m not psychic!
▪ How did you know I’d be here? You must be psychic!