writing on the wall

plural writings on the wall · plural writings on walls · alternative handwriting on the wall

1. countableidiomaticuncountableAn ominous warning; a prediction of bad luck.

   He could see the writing on the wall months before the business failed.

   5 more examples

   She should have seen the writing on the wall when her boss suggested a change of career.

   However, regardless of evil portents, prophetic despair and a great deal too much writing on the wall, I have managed so far to write two fairly cheerful musical comedies.

   1965, Noël Coward, “Note on ‘The Sixties’”, in The Lyrics, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 361

   The Portuguese refused to read the writings on the wall and clung to their colonies, including the one in India.

   2011, M. P. Prabhakaran, “Goa was Not a Settler Colony as Falkland is”, in Letters on India The New York Times Did Not Publish, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 43

   Without a doubt these trends represent the "next big thing". Consider a sampling of recent headlines as writings on the wall: […]

   2012, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, “Global Rebalancing: Crisis and the East-South Turn”, in Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Jongtae Kim, editors, Globalization and Development in East Asia (Routledge Studies in Emerging Societies; 2), New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 36

   Don't you see the implications and writings on the wall for our family's future?

   2014, Daniel Carnahan, The Manipulator, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 594