Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Jul 26, 2005

This week's theme
Words related to forecasting

This week's words
oneiromancy
cassandra
fatidic
dowse
sortilege

---

Cassandra

Cassandra noun: One who prophesies disaster and whose warnings are unheeded.

[After Cassandra in Greek mythology who received the gift of prophecy but was later cursed never to be believed.]

Cassandra was the daughter of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba. Apollo, the god of light, who also controlled the fine arts, music, and eloquence, granted her the ability to see the future. But when she didn't return his love, he condemned her never to be believed. Among other things, Cassandra warned about the Trojan horse that the Greeks left but her warning was ignored.

"We are not sitting here gloating because it is the horrible mess we said it would be. We're in agony. There is nothing pleasurable about being a Cassandra."
Molly Ivins; Downing Street Memos Are News; Tracy Press (California); Jun 22, 2005.

See more usage examples of cassandra in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

X-Bonus