Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use harbinger in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun, verb

Harbinger means a person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something. Example: “But it could be a harbinger of things to come in a hotter, drier West.”

Examples of harbinger by meaning

nounA person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.

  • harbinger of danger; harbinger of doom; harbinger of spring

More sentences with harbinger

  • But it could be a harbinger of things to come in a hotter, drier West.2021 July 20, Jack Healy, Sophie Kasakove, “A Drought So Dire That a Utah Town Pulled the Plug on Growth”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry hot
  • “For me, it's a harbinger of larger cultural changes coming down the pike.”2014 May 26, Amy Verner, “From Humble Sneaker to Luxury Icon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry come down the pike
  • His testimony at a public hearing was a harbinger of uglier epithets to come.2014 October 14, Rud Istvan, Blowing Smoke: Essays on Energy and Climate, Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency, →ISBN. From the entry climatastrophe
  • The organ-grinders were at work; but they were always precocious harbingers.1903–1906, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Easter of the Soul”, in The Voice of the City, complete edition, Garden City…. From the entry organ grinder
  • But what about the harbinger of the Springtime of Nations; and Karl Marx; and the visions of the brotherhood of mankind?1951, “The Twentieth Century, Volume 150”, in Nineteenth Century and After, Limited, page 20. From the entry Springtime of Nations
  • Fortunately “the F.B.I. was on to them” and foiled the plot, but the alleged kidnapping conspiracy, Walter argues, is a harbinger of worse to come.2022 January 12, Ross Douthat, “Let’s Not Invent a Civil War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry on to
  • For the second time this year an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has historically been considered a harbinger of doom, washed up on the California coastline.2024 November 15, Dani Anguiano, “Second oarfish, mythical harbinger of doom, found washed up in California”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry oarfish
  • Just as Halloween decorations at CVS have become the harbinger of fall, an uptick in conversations about male chastity can only mean October—or Locktober—is around the corner.2023 September 30, Emell Derra Adolphus, “Locktober: How Giving Up Control of Your Penis Can Set You Free”, in The Daily Beast, archived…. From the entry Locktober
  • As we predicted at the time, a drone attack on Sevastopol's Black Sea Fleet headquarters over the summer proved an incredible harbinger of the war's next chapter.2022 October 29, Howard Altman, Stetson Payne, Tyler Rogoway, “Ukraine Unleashes Mass Kamikaze Drone Boat Attack On Russia's Black Sea…. From the entry kamikaze drone
  • The Koha or Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is considered the harbinger of Sinhala and Tamil New Year for its beautiful song aimed at attracting a mate.2017 April 9, Malaka Rodrigo, “Koha’s call overseas comes from another species”, in The Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, archived from…. From the entry koha

Meaning of harbinger

  1. noun A person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.
  2. noun One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when travelling, to provide and prepare lodgings.
  3. verb To announce or precede; to be a harbinger of.

Full definition of harbinger

Questions about harbinger in a sentence

How do you use harbinger in a sentence?
Harbinger is used as a noun and verb. For example: “But it could be a harbinger of things to come in a hotter, drier West.”
What is a short sentence with harbinger?
“harbinger of danger; harbinger of doom; harbinger of spring”
What does harbinger mean?
Harbinger means a person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: harbinger (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use harbinger in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/harbinger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.