great events cast their shadows before them
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Important events often have noticeable signs or warnings before they happen
Literally: great events cast their shadows before them
Examples
The company's financial troubles were evident long before the bankruptcy, great events cast their shadows before them
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “great events cast their shadows before them” mean?
Important events often have noticeable signs or warnings before they happen Literally: great events cast their shadows before them
Is “great events cast their shadows before them” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.