Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence: Pertaining to or involving conjecture, supposition, or guesswork rather than solid proof.
   • Resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy: Relating to the practice of foretelling the future or revealing hidden knowledge, often through supernatural or mystical means.

Usage Examples

• Based on surmise:

  • The archaeologist's conclusions about the artifact's use were purely divinatory, lacking any concrete evidence.
  • His plan was based on divinatory logic, not on a reliable analysis of the market data.

• Relating to prophecy:

  • The ancient text contained divinatory verses meant to predict the fate of kings.
  • She claimed to have divinatory dreams that foretold major world events.

Advanced Usage

• "Divinatory arts/practices": Refers to methods like astrology, tarot reading, or scrying used to gain insight into the future or the unknown.

  • He studied various divinatory arts, from reading tea leaves to interpreting astrological charts.

• "Divinatory pronouncement": A formal statement or declaration that claims to predict or reveal future events.

  • The oracle's divinatory pronouncement was awaited with great anxiety by the people.

Variants and Related Words

• Divination (n): The practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.

  • Palmistry is a form of divination.

• Diviner (n): A person who practices divination; a soothsayer or prophet.

  • The village sought the advice of a diviner to find water.

Synonyms

• Conjectural: Based on incomplete information; guesswork.
• Prophetic: Accurately predicting what will happen in the future.
• Oracular: Resembling an oracle; mysterious and prophetic.
• Mantic: Relating to divination or prophecy.

Related Phrases

• Divinatory ritual: A ceremonial act performed to obtain prophetic knowledge.

  • The priests conducted a complex divinatory ritual at the temple.

• Divinatory tools: Objects like crystal balls, runes, or tarot cards used in the practice of divination.

  • Her collection of divinatory tools included a polished obsidian mirror.

Related Idioms

• "To have a divinatory insight": To have a sudden, seemingly prophetic understanding of a future event. (Note: This is a descriptive phrase, not a fixed idiom.)
  • In a moment of divinatory insight, she knew exactly what would happen next.

Adjective

1. based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence
   • theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are still highly conjectural
   • the supposed reason for his absence
   • suppositious reconstructions of dead languages
   • hypothetical situation
2. resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy
   • the high priest's divinatory pronouncement
   • mantic powers
   • a kind of sibylline book with ready and infallible answers to questions