Class: verb | Syllables: AD-um-brayt

Definition: Adumbrate is a formal verb with several meanings that all have to do with figurative shadows. It can mean “to foreshadow vaguely,” as in “a childhood interest in ants that adumbrated a career in biology”; it can mean “to suggest or outline partially,” as in “a few sentences that adumbrate the plan”; and it can mean “to overshadow or obscure,” as in “a cheerfulness not adumbrated by difficult circumstances.”

Example(s):
// The movie's most impressive feat was to pull off a plot twist perfectly adumbrated by one rather forgettable scene.
// The first chapter of the graphic novel deftly adumbrates her earliest memories.
// The joyous occasion was adumbrated by knowledge of what the next day was to bring.