Forthcoming means coming soon — the forthcoming election, her forthcoming album, the forthcoming season. You meet it most in print: on book covers, in concert programmes, in a reading list where a paper is marked 'forthcoming'.
It has two other lives, and both catch learners out. Said of a person, forthcoming means willing to tell you things: 'he wasn't very forthcoming about where he'd been.' Said of a thing, it means actually turning up when it was needed — 'no apology was forthcoming', 'the money was not forthcoming'. That last use is almost always negative, and what is not forthcoming is what failed to arrive. Spelling: one word, no hyphen.
1adjectiveupcomingHappening or appearing soon.
“Details of the forthcoming tour will be announced in May.”
synonyms: upcoming, imminent
2adjectiveforthcomingWilling to give information or talk openly.
“The witness was not forthcoming about what he had seen.”
3adjectivegivenGiven or made available when it is wanted.
“We asked for a refund, but none was forthcoming.”
Also accepted in games: upcoming
Forthcoming is forth, 'forwards', joined to coming, and English has had it since the Old English forþcuman, 'to come forth, come forward'. The forth half traces back to the Proto-Indo-European per-, 'before, in front; first'. The word still does what it says: something forthcoming is on its way to the front.
Proto-Indo-European
*per- — before, in front; first
Old English
forþcuman — to come forth, come forward
Middle English
forth commyng
English, today
forthcoming
Built from
The adjective is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“approaching (adjective)”); or from Middle English forth commyng, forthcominge, present participle of forth-comen (“to come forth; to appear, issue”), from Old English forþcuman (“to come forth, come forward”) (present participle forþcumende), from forþ- (“forth; forward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per- (“before, in front; first”)) + cuman (“to come”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷem- (“to step”)). Compare Dutch voortkomend (“coming forth, originating from (verb)”), German fortkommend (“getting away; progressing (verb)”). The noun is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“arrival”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sharper Adjectives, Time & Calendar