futurist

futurist — noun

IPA/ˈfjuːtʃərɪst/
KK[fjˈutʃɚɪst]IPA/ˈfjuːtʃərɪst/
  • futuristsingular
  • futuristsplural

1. a person whose job is to study trends today and tell people what life or busines

1.nounC1
Definition

a person whose job is to study trends today and tell people what life or business may look like years from now

Example

Kwame is a futurist who advises car companies on what drivers will want in 2040.

noun + relative clause naming the futurist's audience

The hotel chain hired a Tokyo futurist to imagine how guests will book rooms a decade from now.

collocation: hire a futurist

Common collocations
  • leading futurist
  • tech futurist
  • hire a futurist
  • futurist predicts that
Synonyms
  • forecaster

    broader; can apply to weather, sales, or anything short-term, not just long-range societal change

  • trend analyst

    narrower; focused on consumer or market patterns rather than full societal forecasts

  • prognosticator

    formal or jokingly grandiose; less specific to disciplined long-range study

Grammar Patterns

[a] futurist who/that + clause

Usage Note

Subject is usually a named person, a think tank, or a corporate consulting role. Common collocates: 'tech futurist', 'business futurist', 'futurist consultant', 'leading futurist'.

Common Mistakes

She is a futurist of science fiction novels.
She is a science fiction novelist who writes about the future.
a futurist studies and forecasts real trends; a writer of imagined futures is a novelist, not a futurist.
The weatherman is a futurist for tomorrow's rain.
The weatherman forecasts tomorrow's rain.
futurists work on long-range trends (years or decades), not short-term forecasts.

2. an artist, writer, or supporter from the early twentieth century whose work cele

2.nounC2
Definition

an artist, writer, or supporter from the early twentieth century whose work celebrated machines, speed, and the energy of the modern city

Example

The Italian futurists of 1910 painted bicycles and trains to capture the noise of Milan's new factories.

the [country] futurists of [year]

Padma's thesis examines how Russian futurists used bold colours to show city life in 1915.

[scholar] examines how [group] futurists used X

Common collocations
  • Italian futurists
  • Russian futurists
  • the futurists rejected
  • futurist manifesto
Synonyms
  • modernist

    broader; includes futurism plus cubism, dadaism, and other early-20th-century movements

  • avant-gardist

    broader; any artist breaking from tradition, not specifically tied to machine-age themes

Antonyms
  • traditionalist

    an artist who keeps to older styles that futurists rejected

Grammar Patterns

the futurists [of a period]

Usage Note

Almost always used in plural form ('the futurists') and tied to a specific country and decade (Italian futurists 1909-1916, Russian futurists 1912-1930). Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is historical and group-based; sense 1 is a present-day individual profession.

Common Mistakes

My favourite futurist is the painter Asher who works in Berlin today.
My favourite futurist artist is the painter Asher who works in Berlin today.
calling a present-day artist a 'futurist' (sense 2) without context wrongly suggests they were part of the 1910s movement.

futurist — adjective

IPA/ˈfjuː.tʃər.ɪst/
KK[fjˈutʃɚɪst]IPA/ˈfjuː.tʃɚ.ɪst/

Word family

  • futurism
    nounC2
  • futuristic
    adjectiveB2
  • future
    nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name people who try to say what will happen, but their scope and tone differ. A 'futurist' studies long-range trends in technology, society, or business and usually publishes books, gives keynote talks, or advises large companies — the time-frame is years or decades. A 'forecaster' is broader: a weather forecaster predicts tomorrow's rain, a sales forecaster predicts next quarter's revenue, so the word covers any time horizon but is mostly used in short- and mid-term contexts. A 'trend analyst' focuses on patterns in consumer behaviour, fashion, or markets, and is narrower than a futurist; they explain current shifts rather than imagine 2050. 'Prognosticator' is formal and sometimes used jokingly for someone who confidently predicts elections or sports results. So: Kwame, a futurist, talks about cities in 2050; the forecaster says rain tomorrow; the trend analyst tracks this month's app downloads; the prognosticator picks the World Cup winner.

futuristforecastertrend analystprognosticator

Common collocations

Nouns

  • tech futurist
  • business futurist
  • design futurist
  • futurist consultant

Phrases

  • leading futurist
  • self-described futurist
  • as a futurist
  • futurist who predicts

Prepositions

  • futurist at [organisation]
  • futurist for [industry]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Built from Latin 'futurum' meaning 'that which is to come' plus the suffix '-ist' meaning 'a person who does or follows'. The art-movement sense (noun 2, adjective) entered English around 1909 with Italian poet Filippo Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto, which called for art that praised machines and speed. The 'predictor of trends' sense (noun 1) became common in the mid-twentieth century, especially after writers like Alvin Toffler popularised long-range forecasting in the 1960s and 1970s.