soothsaying

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Related to soothsaying: soothsayer, divinatory

sooth·say·ing

(so͞oth′sā′ĭng)

1. The art or practice of foretelling events.

2. A prediction; a prophecy.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sooth•say•ing

(ˈsuθˌseɪ ɪŋ)

n.

1. the practice or art of foretelling events.

2. a prophecy or prediction.

[1525–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

soothsaying - the art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by supernatural means

fortune telling, foretelling, divination

prophecy, vaticination, prognostication - knowledge of the future (usually said to be obtained from a divine source)

arithmancy - divination by means of numbers

dowse, dowsing, rhabdomancy - searching for underground water or minerals by using a dowsing rod

geomancy - divination by means of signs connected with the earth (as points taken at random or the arrangement of particles thrown down at random or from the configuration of a region and its relation to another)

hydromancy - divination by water (as by patterns seen in the ebb and flow of the tides)

lithomancy - divination by means of stones or stone talismans

necromancy - conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying

oneiromancy - divination through the interpretation of dreams

onomancy - divination by the letters of a name

chirology, chiromancy, palm reading, palmistry - telling fortunes by lines on the palm of the hand

pyromancy - divination by fire or flames

soothsaying

noun

Something that is foretold by or as if by supernatural means:

divination, oracle, prophecy, vaticination, vision.

Translations

soothsaying

[ˈsuːθˌseɪɪŋ] N → adivinación f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

soothsaying

n (old) → Wahrsagerei f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

One morning early, the soothsaying Delaware appeared with a gloomy countenance.

View in context

Huge Earth bare these to Epaphus -- soothsaying people, knowing seercraft by the will of Zeus the lord of oracles, but deceivers, to the end that men whose thought passes their utterance (33) might be subject to the gods and suffer harm -- Aethiopians and Libyans and mare-milking Scythians.

View in context

Those who had good fortune in first two years of the fire cyclethe year of the snake (2013) and horse (2014), your luck in 2015 will continue, according to the soothsaying.

MARKET RIDER - Recipe for success in 2015

There isn't much in the way of soothsaying affirmation in Don Colacho--in fact there is none--but there is the balm of honest assessment, which stings and cools with any application, but never numbs.

Don Colacho's epitaphs: Nicolas Gomez Davila's aphorisms are a reactionary's sharpest weapon

The report adds that while the soothsaying cephalopod correctly predicted the results of every match Germany played at the last FIFA World Cup, along with the result of the final, he developed a cult following in the process.

Panda cub to succeed Paul the octopus as World Cup 2014 soothsayer

James added that the script also contained a type of soothsaying wizard character, but joked that he'd be "nothing like Obi-Wan Kenobi".

STAR WARS MAN'S LONG LOST SCRIPT

They are possessed of the gift that was recognized in old Russia as the mark of the 'holy fool', that pilgrim or ragged beggar whose very presence affected people living 'normal' lives and whose soothsaying and self-negation was always at variance with the ideas and established rules of the world at large.

The holy fool in late Tarkovsky

Dante essentially portrays Amphiaraus as a deserter who flees the battlefield, much as Statius initially portrays him (when he flees his responsibility to tell the Argives their fate), and Amphiaraus's contrapasso in the Inferno, while it suits his sin of soothsaying, could as easily fit the act of desertion: 'Mira c'ha fatto petto de le spalle; / perche volse veder troppo davante, / di retro guarda e fa retroso calle' ('Look at the one who has made a chest of his back; because he turned to see too much ahead, backward he looks and makes a backward path'; Inferno 20.

Dante, Virgil, and Christianity: or Statius, sin, and clueless pagans in Inferno IV

IF ONLY ARTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS offered coursework in soothsaying! For all the reports on economic trending, past season examples and gut instinct, there's still a lot that can't be predicted in a year--ticket sales in particular, followed by funding arenas and even weather patterns.

Expect the unexpected: with the worst of the recession behind them, theatre leaders must lay plans for an unpredictable future

In Atlantis, Hercules has joined forces with studious Pythagoras (Robert Emms) and heroic Jason (Jack Donnelly), whose quest to find his father has led him to the strange and mysterious land of Atlantis, full of mythical creatures, soothsaying oracles and palaces so vast it was said they were built by giants.

It's myth dynamite; BBC1's new fantasy Atlantis is set to be a rollercoaster of a show filled with action and adventure. Actor Mark Addy, who plays Hercules, muscles in on the action

Atlantis focuses on a young lad called Jason who, while searching for his missing father, is washed up on the shores of a mysterious land, a place where mythical creatures, soothsaying oracles and palaces seemingly built by giants are commonplace.

Atlantis legend is rediscovered; Host of stars retell the fantasy island legend

And not only will I use my soothsaying powers to tell you where they will finish pre-split, I will also reveal how many points they will accumulate, how many goals they'll score, how many they'll concede and how many clean sheets they will keep.

I have a vision of where Dons will finish up in the SPIFFLE; KEEPING IT STRAIGHT

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