foreshadowing
Foreshadowing (noun) means a technique in storytelling in which a writer plants hints early on about something that will happen later, so the eventual event feels prepared for rather than random. Example: “The broken clock in chapter one is obvious foreshadowing.”
How to use foreshadowing
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishClues early in a story about what is coming later.
Neutral; standard vocabulary in English literature classes and reviews.
Foreshadowing hints without telling. If the text states outright what will happen, that is a flashforward or narrative prolepsis, not foreshadowing.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The broken clock in chapter one is obvious _____.
Etymology
From fore- 'before, in advance' plus shadow, on the image of a shadow being cast ahead of the thing that casts it.
Related words
Rhymes for foreshadowing
See all rhymes for foreshadowing →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between foreshadowing and a flashforward?
Foreshadowing plants an indirect clue whose meaning only becomes clear later. A flashforward actually shows a future scene. One withholds, the other reveals.
What is the difference between foreshadowing and dramatic irony?
Foreshadowing hints at something neither the characters nor the reader knows yet. Dramatic irony exists when the reader already knows something a character does not, and watches them act in ignorance of it.
What are some common examples of foreshadowing?
Typical devices include an offhand remark that turns out to be literally true, a weather change before a disaster, an object introduced early and used decisively later, and a dream or prophecy. Titles and chapter epigraphs often do the same work.
What is the meaning of foreshadowing?
"foreshadowing" (noun) means a technique in storytelling in which a writer plants hints early on about something that will happen later, so the eventual event feels prepared for rather than random.