augur
1 of 2noun
au·gur ˈȯ-gər 
1
: an official diviner of ancient Rome
2
: one held to foretell events by omens
augur
2 of 2verb
augured; auguring; augurs
transitive verb
1
: to foretell especially from omens
2
: to give promise of : presage
This bad news augurs disaster for all of us.
intransitive verb
: to predict the future especially from omens
Did you know?
Auguring is what augurs did in ancient Rome. Augurs were official diviners whose function it was not to foretell the future, but to divine whether the gods approved of a proposed undertaking, such as a military move. They did so by various means, among them observing the behavior of birds and examining the entrails of sacrificed animals. Nowadays, the foretell sense of the verb is often used with an adverb, such as well. Augur comes from Latin and is related to the Latin verb augēre, meaning "to increase."
Synonyms
Noun
- diviner
- forecaster
- foreseer
- foreteller
- fortune-teller
- futurist
- prognosticator
- prophesier
- prophet
- seer
- soothsayer
- visionary
Verb
- bode
- forebode
- forbode
- promise
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun ancient Roman augurs who predicted the future by reading the flight of birds Verb The decision doesn't augur well. the extended interview augurs well for your acceptance into that law school
Recent Examples on the Web
Wired, 3 Aug. 2022 These all augur in favor of aggressive actions to flatten the curve of infections. WSJ, 30 Jan. 2022 ByteDance’s growth in emerging markets could be an augur of what’s to come. Chris Stokel-walker, Wired, 22 Nov. 2021 The mission of the Dylanologist is to serve as codebreaker, or some augur of the divine. John Semley, The New Republic, 26 May 2021 Phuket’s largest mosque is in Bang Tao, and this year the first day of Ramadan coincided with the beginning of the Thai New Year festivities, an auspicious augur after a year of economic hardship. New York Times, 25 Apr. 2021 New York Times, 11 July 2022 The deal for ChemoCentryx could augur more deal making in the sector, especially after the valuations of potential targets have dropped. Joseph Walker, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2022 His exit may augur another era of fiscal profligacy and aversion to reform. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 July 2022 Some worry these changes augur an increasingly isolationist future in China that may persist even as the pandemic eases. Sarah Todd, Quartz, 24 May 2022 But should these anecdotal reports augur a flood of similar data, Paxlovid might offer a surprisingly straightforward fix to one of the pandemic’s biggest puzzles. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 10 May 2022 The mega-deal is expected to take effect in April, and may augur changes behind the scenes. Brian Stelter, CNN, 28 Mar. 2022 The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to counter inflation, and the bond-market yield curve is close to inverting, which can sometimes augur recession. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 Mar. 2022 The ongoing vaccination programs and gradual opening up of economies has resulted in an increase in procedures volume in 2021, and this should augur well for Intuitive Surgical’s top line growth, when compared to the prior year quarter. Trefis Team, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022 See More
Noun
The UK Met Office, which monitors the weather, suggests that the record heat was an augur of things to come, which means data centers need to prepare for a new normal. Wired, 3 Aug. 2022 These all augur in favor of aggressive actions to flatten the curve of infections. WSJ, 30 Jan. 2022 ByteDance’s growth in emerging markets could be an augur of what’s to come. Chris Stokel-walker, Wired, 22 Nov. 2021 The mission of the Dylanologist is to serve as codebreaker, or some augur of the divine. John Semley, The New Republic, 26 May 2021 Phuket’s largest mosque is in Bang Tao, and this year the first day of Ramadan coincided with the beginning of the Thai New Year festivities, an auspicious augur after a year of economic hardship. New York Times, 25 Apr. 2021 Verb
Recent numbers, however, don’t augur a quick return to pre-Covid conditions. New York Times, 11 July 2022 The deal for ChemoCentryx could augur more deal making in the sector, especially after the valuations of potential targets have dropped. Joseph Walker, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2022 His exit may augur another era of fiscal profligacy and aversion to reform. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 July 2022 Some worry these changes augur an increasingly isolationist future in China that may persist even as the pandemic eases. Sarah Todd, Quartz, 24 May 2022 But should these anecdotal reports augur a flood of similar data, Paxlovid might offer a surprisingly straightforward fix to one of the pandemic’s biggest puzzles. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 10 May 2022 The mega-deal is expected to take effect in April, and may augur changes behind the scenes. Brian Stelter, CNN, 28 Mar. 2022 The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to counter inflation, and the bond-market yield curve is close to inverting, which can sometimes augur recession. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 Mar. 2022 The ongoing vaccination programs and gradual opening up of economies has resulted in an increase in procedures volume in 2021, and this should augur well for Intuitive Surgical’s top line growth, when compared to the prior year quarter. Trefis Team, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Latin; akin to Latin augēre — see augment entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1593, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
auguring 1 of 2
noun
as in predicting
a declaration that something will happen in the future it's a good thing that people don't remember the tabloid's augurings a year later, since very few come to pass Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- predicting
- prediction
- forecasting
- forecast
- prophecy
- presaging
- foretelling
- prophesy
- prognosis
- augury
- anticipation
- prognostication
- prognosticating
- cast
- soothsaying
- harbinger
- sign
- prognostic
- omen
- portent
- vaticination
- prevision
- bodement
- foreboding
- foreknowledge
- prospectus
- guess
- foresight
- conjecture
- surmise
auguring
2 of 2verb
1
as in promising
to show signs of a favorable or successful outcome the extended interview augurs well for your acceptance into that law school Synonyms & Similar Words
- promising
- boding
- predicting
- foreboding
- presaging
- forboding
- foretelling
- forecasting
- portending
- prognosticating
- prophesying
- foreseeing
- bidding fair
- warning
- divining
- anticipating
- forewarning
- hinting
- betokening
- foreshadowing
- prefiguring
- indicating
- foreknowing
- implying
- alluding
- intimating
- signifying
- connoting
- suggesting
- presignifying
- harbingering
- insinuating
2
as in presaging
to tell of or describe beforehand the fortune-teller augured nothing but a series of calamities for me Synonyms & Similar Words
- predicting
- presaging
- reading
- anticipating
- foretelling
- forecasting
- prognosticating
- announcing
- prophesying
- warning
- portending
- calling
- foreseeing
- promising
- vaticinating
- boding
- forewarning
- cautioning
- divining
- declaring
- proclaiming
- foreboding
- heralding
- alerting
- foreknowing
- forboding
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- describing
- relating
- telling
- reporting
- recounting
- reciting
- narrating