foresight

foresight — noun

1. the ability to make thoughtful preparations now, based on what you believe will

1.nounB2
Definition

the ability to make thoughtful preparations now, based on what you believe will happen later

Example

The Watanabe family had the foresight to buy flood insurance before the storm season.

collocation: have the foresight (to do something)

Ritu showed remarkable foresight by saving money for her children's university education.

collocation: show (remarkable) foresight

Common collocations
  • have the foresight (to do something)
  • show / display / demonstrate foresight
  • act with foresight
  • lack of foresight
  • thanks to someone's foresight
  • an act of foresight
Synonyms
  • forethought

    focuses more on careful thinking and preparation before acting than on seeing future events

  • prudence

    emphasises caution and sensible financial or practical choices rather than anticipation

  • prescience

    a more formal or literary term that suggests almost supernatural knowledge of what will happen

  • anticipation

    focuses on expecting something to happen rather than actively preparing for it

Antonyms
  • hindsight

    understanding of an event after it has happened, the opposite of looking forward

  • shortsightedness

    lack of concern for the future or for long-term consequences

Grammar Patterns

have the foresight to + infinitive

show / display foresight

with / without foresight

Usage Note

Commonly followed by an infinitive clause ('to + verb') to describe the specific preventive action that was planned in advance.

Common Mistakes

I had the foresight that it would rain.
I had the foresight to bring an umbrella.
'foresight' describes the act of preparing, not predicting a specific event. Use 'predict' or 'guess' for specific outcomes.

Word family

  • foresee
    verbB2
  • foreseeable
    adjectiveB2
  • unforeseeable
    adjectiveC1
  • unforeseen
    adjectiveB2
  • foreseen
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words relate to looking ahead, but they differ in emphasis. Foresight (the broadest of the group) combines the ability to see what may happen with the action of preparing for it. Forethought stresses careful, deliberate planning before doing something — it is more about the thinking step than about seeing the future. Prudence leans toward cautious, sensible decision-making, especially around money or risk; a prudent person avoids unnecessary dangers but may not actively imagine new scenarios. Prescience is a much stronger, more literary word that suggests knowing something will happen before it does — almost like a sixth sense. Anticipation is the weakest; it simply means expecting something to occur, without any requirement to act on that expectation. A city planner might show foresight by building wider roads for future traffic (action based on prediction), while a hiker uses forethought by packing extra socks before a long walk (careful planning), and an investor acts with prudence by keeping a diversified portfolio (caution, not prediction).

foresight ↗forethoughtprudenceprescienceanticipation

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • have the foresight to
  • show the foresight to
  • with remarkable foresight
  • for want of foresight

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed in Middle English from fore- ('before') and sight ('the ability to see'), modelled on the earlier verb 'foresee'. The word emerged around the 14th century, originally with the literal meaning 'seeing something before it happens', which later expanded to include the sense of preparing for what one sees coming.