future

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

1 time that will come after the present

ADJECTIVE

▪ foreseeable, immediate, near, not-too-distant, short-term

▪

Things will continue as they are for the foreseeable future.

▪

A new branch of the store will be opening in the near future.

▪ distant, far, remote

▪

Trying to forecast the far future is a problematic exercise.

▪ indefinite

▪

Nothing will change for the indefinite future.

VERB + FUTURE

▪ look to, plan for

▪

Don't think too much about past troubles—look to the future.

▪ foretell, look into, predict

▪ embrace

▪

All of us need to embrace the future.

FUTURE + VERB

▪ bring (sb), hold

▪

whatever the future may bring you

▪

Who can tell what the future holds?

PREPOSITION

▪ for the future

▪

What are your plans for the future?

▪ in (the) future

▪

In future, please contact me first. (BrE)

▪

In the future, please contact me first. (AmE)

▪

The possibility of travel to other solar systems still lies in the distant future.

▪ of the future

▪

The stars of the future are competing this month.

PHRASES

▪ a vision for the future, a vision of the future

▪

In her speech, the director outlined her vision for the future.

2 what will happen to sb/sth

ADJECTIVE

▪ bright, brilliant, exciting, glorious, golden (esp. BrE), great, healthy, promising, prosperous, rosy, successful

▪

He has a great future as a designer.

▪ better

▪ hopeful, peaceful

▪ secure, stable

▪ sustainable, viable

▪ bleak, gloomy (esp. BrE), grim, uncertain

▪

He forecasts an uncertain future for the industry.

▪ long-term

▪ economic, financial, political

▪ shared

▪

united by our common history and our shared future

▪ entire, whole

▪

He felt his entire future was at risk.

▪ utopian

VERB + FUTURE

▪ face, have

▪

The company faces a very uncertain future.

▪ create

▪

We want to create a better future for everyone.

▪ determine, influence, shape

▪

the right to determine their own future in a democratic fashion

▪ assure, guarantee, secure

▪

The sale secured his financial future.

▪ jeopardize, threaten

▪ envisage (esp. BrE), envision (esp. AmE), forecast, predict

▪ consider, contemplate, ponder, ponder on

▪

After being dropped from the team the young defender is considering his future.

▪ discuss

▪ plan

▪

You need to take time to plan your future.

▪ invest in

▪

She decided to invest in her future by taking a course.

FUTURE + VERB

▪ await (sb)

▪

A great future awaits you.

PREPOSITION

▪ future as

▪

She has a very promising future as a musician.

▪ future in

▪

He could see no future in his job.

PHRASES

▪ a question mark over the future of sb/sth (esp. BrE)

▪

A question mark hangs over the future of the company.

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adj.

Future is used with these nouns: ↑bride, ↑challenge, ↑conflict, ↑consumption, ↑dealings, ↑demand, ↑direction, ↑disaster, ↑earnings, ↑edition, ↑emperor, ↑employer, ↑endeavour, ↑event, ↑existence, ↑expansion, ↑expectation, ↑expenditure, ↑exploration, ↑gain, ↑generation, ↑government, ↑greatness, ↑growth, ↑happiness, ↑heir, ↑historian, ↑hope, ↑husband, ↑impact, ↑implication, ↑incarnation, ↑income, ↑king, ↑leader, ↑life, ↑month, ↑need, ↑occupant, ↑owner, ↑plan, ↑possibility, ↑potential, ↑profit, ↑profitability, ↑projection, ↑promise, ↑prospect, ↑prosperity, ↑queen, ↑reference, ↑release, ↑requirement, ↑research, ↑return, ↑ruler, ↑scenario, ↑self, ↑shape, ↑shortage, ↑strategy, ↑study, ↑success, ↑survival, ↑target, ↑tense, ↑use, ↑version, ↑viability, ↑wife, ↑year