ENGLISH
REFERENCE

forthcoming

adj.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ˈfɔɹθˈkəmɪŋ// UK //fˈɔːθkʌmɪŋ// forth·com·ing Academic

adj. happening or appearing soon. It can also describe a person who is willing to share information or talk openly.

adj. about to happen or appear in the near future; alternatively, describes a person who is communicative and helpful with information.


SIMPLE

The list of forthcoming events is on the website.

CONTEXTUAL

The company released a short statement about the forthcoming merger but provided few specific details.

COMPLEX

While the professor was helpful regarding the syllabus, he was less forthcoming about the specific contents of the final exam, leaving students to speculate on the difficulty.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

The adjective is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“approaching (adjective)”); or from Middle English forth commyng, forthcominge, present participle of forth-comen (“to come forth; to appear, issue”), from Old English forþcuman (“to come forth, come forward”) (present participle forþcumende), from forþ- (“forth; forward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per- (“before, in front; first”)) + cuman (“to come”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷem- (“to step”)). Compare Dutch voortkomend (“coming forth, originating from (verb)”), German fortkommend (“getting away; progressing (verb)”). The noun is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“arrival”).

Etymology 2

From forthcome + -ing.

Usage

When used to mean 'happening soon', it typically precedes the noun; when describing a person's helpfulness, it often follows a linking verb.

Pitfall

he was not forthcoming to the informationhe was not forthcoming with the informationWhen describing a person's willingness to share, the adjective takes the preposition 'with' rather than 'to'.

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