Meaning & use
doesn't bode well
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Be a sign that something bad or unsuccessful is likely to happen.
Grammar: Used with a subject that is a fact, event, or situation: The delay doesn't bode well for the project.
Patterns
- something doesn't bode well
- doesn't bode well for someone/something
The team lost its first three games, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.
The fact that she hasn't called back doesn't bode well.
The dark clouds over the mountains don't bode well for our picnic.
Common combinations
- not bode well for
- The poor sales figures do not bode well for the company's future.
- bode ill
- The sudden silence boded ill for the negotiations.
- a sign that doesn't bode well
- The empty streets were a sign that didn't bode well for the festival.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spell trouble
- This also means 'be a sign of problems,' but it is more direct and often used in narrative writing.
- be a bad sign
- A simpler, more neutral way to say the same thing; it doesn't carry the same formal or literary tone.
Opposites
Word family
- bode verb
- To be a sign of something; usually used in the phrases bode well or bode ill.
Practice
The heavy rain on the morning of the wedding ___ for the outdoor ceremony.
Choose one answer.
The phrase 'doesn't bode well' fits because it means 'is a bad sign' and can stand alone without 'for' when the context is clear. 'Doesn't bode well for' would need an object like 'the ceremony,' and 'doesn't bode' alone is incomplete.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “doesn't bode well”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.