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prefigurative

prefigurative

9.9
Suggests or shows what will happen later in a vague, symbolic way
  • adjective
  • /ˌpriːˈfɪɡərətɪv/
  • Literature
translation icon : prefigurativo
  • The Rastafari and GUMs in general are exemplars of prefigurative movement practices.

Examples

  • Obviously, I find animal cruelty abhorrent and am fully aware that the animals we choose to eat or keep as pets are determined by cultural convention, but prefigurative utopianism is pointless.

    Blog text (34)
  • On the notion of "prefigurative politics," see Sitrin (2004) and Graeber (2002).

    Academic text (2008)
  • Through their deaths, Jicotencal and Teutila emerge from the romance as a prefigurative polis.

    Academic text (2018)
  • 34 ACE and other organizations recognize these "prefigurative politics" and are shaping not only their mission statements and programs but their entire organizations around this in terms of staffing, strategy, external relations, and image.

    Academic text (2005)
  • It was for this reason that Lenin, as well as Marx, argued against prefigurative utopianism: the idea that one must behave as if he already lived in a perfect society, a Kantian kingdom of ends.

    Blog text (34)
  • The kind of relationship building that anarchists have been fairly good at lately is necessary from the standpoint of building the culture that we need, both as an obvious politically prefigurative act and also from a purely material standpoint (we need the food, shelter, time, etc. that it affords us).

    Blog text (12)
  • The artist's use of colors in the painting was prefigurative, hinting at the emotions the viewer would feel before fully experiencing the piece.

  • In her speech, she employed prefigurative language to suggest the ideals of a future society that she wanted to inspire in her audience.

  • The novel's themes were prefigurative, symbolically foreshadowing the major conflicts that would arise in the following chapters.

Synonyms

prophetic
vsprefigurative
33 7.4

Saying or showing what will happen in the future, often as if from a spiritual source

is vaguer and more symbolic than definite prediction
prescient
vsprefigurative
  • Formal
16 8.9

Knowing about things before they happen

expresses a vaguer, more symbolic anticipation rather than clear foresight
portentous
vsprefigurative
  • Formal
4 8.6

A strong sign that something important or bad will happen

is vaguer and less strongly ominous or dramatic
precognitive
vsprefigurative
2 9.9

To know about an event before it happens

is more suggestive and less certain than direct foresight
premonitory
vsprefigurative
1 9.8

A sign that warns of something bad that may happen

is more symbolic and indistinct rather than a clear warning
precursory
vsprefigurative
1 8.1

A sign that something bad may happen

is more symbolic and less direct as an early sign
prophetical
vsprefigurative
  • Literature
1 9.1

Saying that something will happen in the future, often by a religious person

is more indistinctly suggestive than direct divine foretelling
adumbrative
vsprefigurative
  • Literature
9.9

Hinting in an unclear way at something that will happen

is similar but less shadowy and more clearly suggestive
proleptic
vsprefigurative
  • Literature
9.9

Showing or suggesting something that will happen later

leans more toward vague prophetic suggestion than explicit foreshadowing
divinatory
vsprefigurative
9.9

Relating to ways people try to tell the future

is more symbolic and less about active fortune telling

How Prophetic

prophetic
33 7.4
visionary
47 6.3
prefigurative
  • Literature
9.9
suggestive
18 5.2

Surface Forms

prefigurative positive

Morphology

prefigurative = prefigure (semi-transparent) = pre + figur + ative

For a learner who knows the verb 'prefigure', the adjective meaning 'having the quality of prefiguring' is a straightforward suffixal formation.

Etymology

Prefigurative comes from the parts pre- meaning 'before' and figure meaning 'shape' or 'form', the same root you see in the common word figure. So something prefigurative gives a small 'sign' or 'shape' of what will come later, which is why it means hinting at or suggesting the future.