FUTURE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does future mean? 

• FUTURE (noun)
  The noun FUTURE has 3 senses:

1. the time yet to come

2. a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future

3. bulk commodities bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date

  Familiarity information: FUTURE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FUTURE (adjective)
  The adjective FUTURE has 4 senses:

1. yet to be or coming

2. effective in or looking toward the future

3. (of elected officers) elected but not yet serving

4. a verb tense or other formation referring to events or states that have not yet happened

  Familiarity information: FUTURE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FUTURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time yet to come

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

future; futurity; hereafter; time to come

Hypernyms ("future" is a kind of...):

time (the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "future"):

kingdom come (the end of time)

by-and-by (an indefinite time in the future)

offing (the near or foreseeable future)

tomorrow (the near future)

manana (an indefinite time in the future)

Antonym:

past (the time that has elapsed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

future; future tense

Hypernyms ("future" is a kind of...):

tense (a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bulk commodities bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("future" is a kind of...):

commodity; good; trade good (articles of commerce)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "future"):

oil future; petroleum future (petroleum bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date)

soybean future (soybeans bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date)

wheat future (wheat bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date)

• FUTURE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Yet to be or coming

Context example:

some future historian will evaluate him

Similar:

approaching; coming; forthcoming; upcoming (of the relatively near future)

future-day (yet to come)

early (expected in the near future)

emerging; rising (coming to maturity)

in store (in readiness; awaiting)

prox; proximo (in or of the next month after the present)

Also:

incoming (arriving at a place or position)

prospective (of or concerned with or related to the future)

Attribute:

timing (the time when something happens)

Antonym:

past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)

present (temporal sense; intermediate between past and future; now existing or happening or in consideration)

Derivation:

futurity (the quality of being in or of the future)

futurity (the time yet to come)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Effective in or looking toward the future

Context example:

he was preparing for future employment opportunities

Similar:

prospective (of or concerned with or related to the future)

Derivation:

futurity (the quality of being in or of the future)

futurity (the time yet to come)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of elected officers) elected but not yet serving

Synonyms:

future; next; succeeding

Context example:

our next president

Similar:

incoming (arriving at a place or position)

Derivation:

futurity (the quality of being in or of the future)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A verb tense or other formation referring to events or states that have not yet happened

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

future auxiliary

Domain category:

grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))

Pertainym:

future (a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future)

 Context examples 

Come back to this lady in a year, and may her future and yours justify us in the judgment which we have pronounced this night!

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I am willing to forget those which are passed if you will promise that there shall be no more in the future.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had his eyes fixed always on the future.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Solar eclipses are new moons on steroids, and this one could change your future path and keep seeing money roll in.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I was without confidence in the future, extremely doubtful, and yet I felt no underlying fear.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We have never spoken to each other yet of the future.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

These are the scenes which my mind and my pen will dwell upon in every detail at some future day.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I take it as a good omen for the future and invite you to my wedding on the spot, answered Mr. Brooke, who felt at peace with all mankind, even his mischievous pupil.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As to any sense of inequality, or youthfulness, or other difficulty in our way, little Em'ly and I had no such trouble, because we had no future.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)