premonition

Definitions

pre- (before) + mon (warn) + -ition (act) = 'a warning given beforehand.' A premonition is a warning that arrives before the event — not real knowledge, but a vague, uneasy sense that something (usually bad) is coming.

Why It Means This

What makes premonition special is the pre-: the warning comes before there's any evidence. It's not a deduction but a feeling — which is why it almost always attaches to bad outcomes ('a premonition of disaster') and carries an air of the supernatural. The same pre- + monēre gives the adjective premonitory, used for early signs that warn of what's to come.

Common Collocations

• 1.have a premonition有预感
• 2.dark premonition不祥预感
• 3.premonition of danger对危险的预感
• 4.sense of premonition预感

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She had a premonition that the trip would end badly.

• 2.

  A sudden premonition of danger made him stop and turn around.

• 3.

  He couldn't shake the dark premonition that gripped him.

Easily Confused

premonition vs prediction — a premonition is an intuitive, often anxious feeling with no rational basis ('I had a premonition something was wrong'). A prediction is a reasoned forecast based on evidence ('weather prediction'). Feeling in your gut → premonition; conclusion from data → prediction.