foregone conclusion
1. An inevitable result. After how poorly the team has played so far this season, it's a foregone conclusion that they won't make it to the championship. It seem like a foregone conclusion that the Kings would win, but then the Sharks scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the game to tie it. A: "Come on, it's a foregone conclusion that FlemCorp will continue to control the smartphone market." B: "I don't know. This new manufacturer, Smapple, could make things interesting."
2. A view or belief that one has before receiving all pertinent information. Don't come to any foregone conclusions about the accident, all right? Let me tell you the whole story first. I know you found some suspicious things in her office, but don't jump to foregone conclusions—talk to her first. It's easy to read a lot into the secret email exchanges, but we shouldn't make foregone conclusions—there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
foregone conclusion
Cliché a conclusion already reached; an inevitable result. That the company was moving to California was a foregone conclusion. That the mayor will win reelection is a foregone conclusion.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
foregone conclusion, a
1. An outcome regarded as inevitable, as in The victory was a foregone conclusion.
2. A conclusion formed in advance of argument or consideration, as in The jury was warned to consider all of the evidence and not base their decision on a foregone conclusion . This idiom probably was invented by Shakespeare ( Othello, 3:3) but scholars are not agreed as to his precise meaning. [c. 1600]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
a ˌforegone conˈclusion
a result that is certain to happen: It’s a foregone conclusion that Spain will win tonight’s match.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
foregone conclusion, a
A result that is already known and therefore is taken for granted. The term comes from Shakespeare’s Othello (3.3), in which, after hearing Iago’s lie about Cassio talking in his sleep of his love affair with Desdemona, Othello says this “dream” is a “foregone conclusion”—that is, it clearly denotes that his wife has been unfaithful to him with Cassio (as Iago intended him to believe all along). Some four centuries later the term is still around: “But it could be argued that it was a surprise so many Spaniards were prepared to take part in a vote which was a foregone conclusion” (Economist, Feb. 26, 2005).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer