MEANING
To indicate or foreshadow something expected to happen, often something adverse.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- portend trouble
- portend a change
On the page
The sudden quiet seemed to portend trouble rather than relief.
The first withdrawals portended a change the council would not acknowledge.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- portend
- Past tense
- portended
- Past participle
- portended
- Present participle
- portending
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- portend
- Present continuous
- am/is/are portending
- Present perfect
- have/has portended
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been portending
- Past
- portended
- Past continuous
- was/were portending
- Past perfect
- had portended
- Past perfect continuous
- had been portending
- Future
- will portend
- Future continuous
- will be portending
- Future perfect
- will have portended
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been portending
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: portend; portends; portended; portended; portending Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: portends.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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