future — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   This solitary attitude stems in part from a deep sense of fatalism and futility, a profound social effect of the genophage that caused krogan numbers to dwindle to a relative handful. Not only are they angry that the entire galaxy seems out to get them, the krogan are also generally pessimistic about their race's chances of survival. The surviving krogan see no point to building for the future; there will be no future. The krogan live with an attitude of "kill, pillage, and be selfish, for tomorrow we die."

2. Something that will happen in moments yet to come.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

3. Goodness in what is yet to come. Something to look forward to.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   There is no future in dwelling on the past.

   More examples (1)

   Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.

4. The likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Again, it's unlikely they will return to traffic, but futures have been secured for four that will be heading to heritage railways [...].

5. Verb tense used to talk about events that will happen in the future; future tense.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

6. An object that retrieves the value of a promise.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

7. A minor-league prospect.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Adjective

1. Having to do with or occurring in the future.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Synonyms

   unborn

   Examples

   Future generations will either laugh or cry at our stupidity.

   More examples (1)

   So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   It[The study] also attempts to predict the future progression of AI as it relates to new inventions.

Adjective

1. yet to be or coming

   Antonyms

   pastpresent

   Examples

   some future historian will evaluate him

2. effective in or looking toward the future

   Examples

   he was preparing for future employment opportunities

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

   Synonyms

   nextsucceeding

   Examples

   our next president

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

   Examples

   future auxiliary

Noun

1. the time yet to come

   Synonyms

   hereafterfuturitytime to come

   Antonyms

   past

   Broader terms

   time

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

   Synonyms

   future tense

   Broader terms

   tense

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

   Broader terms

   commoditytrade goodgood