prophesyproph‧e‧sy /ˈprɒfəsaɪ $ ˈprɑː-/ verb (past tense and past participle prophesied, present participle prophesying, third person singular prophesies) [intransitive, transitive] 
Verb Table Examples
He prophesied that a flood would cover the earth. There was a great war between the countries, just as the elders had prophesied.► see thesaurus at predict
Verb TableVERB TABLE
prophesy
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | prophesy |
| he, she, it | prophesies | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | prophesied |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have prophesied |
| he, she, it | has prophesied | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had prophesied |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will prophesy |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have prophesied |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am prophesying |
| he, she, it | is prophesying | |
| you, we, they | are prophesying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was prophesying |
| you, we, they | were prophesying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been prophesying |
| he, she, it | has been prophesying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been prophesying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be prophesying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been prophesying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Her ability to prophesy about the future made many people think she was a witch.
- History reports that she prophesied her own death.
- It is claimed that Ebba prophesied her own death from the plague.
- Jesus prophesied that one of his disciples would betray him.
- Many brokers on Wall Street prophesied the downfall of the company.
- At Azusa Street literally any person who came in could stand and prophesy.
- But as Michele had prophesied, it was already getting cooler, and Luce was glad of her light coat.
- But the all-too-human temptation to prophesy inhibits the suspension of judgment so often necessary.
- Horned Io, mild of eye, now hear Prometheus prophesy.
- If women were not to preach, what were those who prophesied doing?
- Seized for a moment by the power of prophesy, Caledor spoke words that would ring down the ages.
- The event was prophesied in the Old Testament.
- They could light no fire, and Ratagan prophesied gloomily that their camp that night would be cheerless.
THESAURUS► predict
to say what will happen in the future, especially using religious or magical knowledge SYN foretellprophesy that to say that something will happen, before it happens: · In the future, it may be possible to predict earthquakes.· Scientists are trying to predict what the Amazon will look like in 20 years' time.
► forecast to say what is likely to happen in the future, especially in relation to the weather or the economic or political situation: · They’re forecasting a hard winter.· Economists forecast that there would be a recession.
► project to say what the amount, size, cost etc of something is likely to be in the future, using the information you have now: · The world’s population is projected to rise by 45%.
► can say especially spoken be able to know what will happen in the future: · No one can say what the next fifty years will bring.· I can’t say exactly how much it will cost.
► foretell to say correctly what will happen in the future, using special religious or magical powers: · The woman claimed that she had the gift of foretelling the future.· It all happened as the prophet had foretold.
► prophesy to say that something will happen because you feel that it will, or by using special religious or magical powers: · He’s one of those people who are always prophesying disaster.· The coming of a great Messiah is prophesied in the Bible.· He prophesied that the world would end in 2012.· Marx prophesied that capitalism would destroy itself.
► foresee to know that something is going to happen before it happens: · They should have foreseen these problems.· No one foresaw the outcome of the war.
► have a premonition to have a strange feeling that something is about to happen, especially something bad, usually just before it happens: · Suddenly I had a strange premonition of danger ahead.
Longman Language Activatorto say what will happen in the future► predict 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 predictedpredict (that): · Some scientists predict that the Earth's temperature will rise by as much as 5° over the next 20 years.
► forecast 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 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 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 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.
WORD SETS► Occultbanshee, nouncoven, noundemon, noundemonic, adjectivedevil, nounESP, nounevil, adjectiveexorcism, nounexorcist, nounexorcize, verbextra-sensory perception, nounfiend, nounfortune-teller, nounmedium, nounmind reader, nounnecromancy, nounpalmist, nounpalmistry, nounpalm reader, nounparanormal, adjectiveparapsychology, nounpossessed, adjectiveprophecy, nounprophesy, verbpsychic, adjectivepsychic, nounpsychokinesis, nounseance, nounsoothsayer, nounspirit, nounSvengali, nountarot, nountelepathic, adjectivetelepathy, nounwitch, nounwizard, noun
He prophesied that a flood would cover the earth. There was a great war between the countries, just as the elders had prophesied.► see thesaurus at predict