Skip to main content
foretaste

foretaste

2 7.9
A small early experience that shows what will happen later
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔrˌteɪst/
translation icon : anticipo
  • Its ostensible purpose was to demonstrate his diplomatic bona fides to voters back home, but it was also meant to give a foretaste of the international goodwill America would enjoy under his presidency.
  • give a foretaste

Examples

  • On the prairie, early November sometimes brings a bitter foretaste of winter.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The unexpected rain was a foretaste of the severe storms predicted for later this week.

  • Give the American a foretaste of things to come.

  • Europe has already had its first foretaste of what this may mean.

    Blog text (24)
  • Believe me, commander, that is only a foretaste.

  • A foretaste of paradise itself.

  • The full extent of that power you have yet to realize, but here is a mere foretaste.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The mock student election movement gives students a foretaste of adulthood.

    Blog text (6)
  • The world of the yeshiva flourished in exile as a foretaste of the world to come.

    Academic text (1993)
  • We are painfully aware that we are here offering the reader a mere sampler or foretaste, not the full intellectual feast we would have liked to offer had we but space enough and time.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

glimmer
vsforetaste
39 5.0

A small, faint feeling of hope or understanding

gives a small direct early experience rather than a vague perception
foreshadowing
vsforetaste
  • Literature
8 6.7

A hint early in a story that shows what will happen later

offers a brief sensory or experiential sample rather than an intentional hint
presage
vsforetaste
  • Literature
1 8.7

A sign or feeling that something bad will happen

signals a small neutral early experience rather than an ominous sign
prefigurement
vsforetaste
  • Literature
9.1

A sign or early example that shows what will happen later

gives a small personal early experience rather than a mere sign

Antonyms

738 1.0

An event that happens suddenly and is not expected

How Indicative

portent
  • Formal
10 8.7
foretaste
2 7.9
hint
153 1.5

Surface Forms

foretaste singular
foretastes plural

Morphology

foretaste = taste (transparent) = fore + taste

The meaning follows directly from 'fore' (before) + 'taste' (a sample), i.e., an early sample or indication.

Etymology

The word foretaste comes from fore- meaning 'before' and taste meaning 'a small sample'. So a foretaste is a little sample you get 'before' the full thing, which is why it means an early experience of what will come.