in hindsight
37
4.4
- idiom
:
en retrospectiva
- One unanticipated finding, which in hindsight seems obvious, is the strongly negative initial student reaction to the course.
- In hindsight, it seems
- In hindsight, I realize
- obvious in hindsight
But like, I realized only in hindsight how risky it was.
- But like, I realized only in hindsight how risky it was.
- And that sounds so simplistic in hindsight, but it was amazing.
- And so now, you know, in hindsight, now I'm, I embrace it wholeheartedly.
- But in hindsight, I probably would have been better off.
- Those things seem so obvious in hindsight, don't they?
- But we only see in hindsight that trying to time the market is stupid.
- Yeah, again, it's always, it's always easier to look at things in hindsight.
- But yes, in hindsight, neither of them really hid that from me.
- And this feels like obvious in hindsight now, I don't know.
- And in hindsight now would you've taken it?
Examples
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I'm proud of it, but there are things that in hindsight we should have done differently.
Blog text (1) -
In hindsight, not one of their better decisions.
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And only then can I realize in hindsight why it was so hard for me.
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But in hindsight, I probably would have been better off.
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I think it was, in hindsight, too big for this room.
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And I remember trying to explain that to my family, how in hindsight it was one of the happiest times of my life.
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Those things seem so obvious in hindsight, don't they?
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As a result, we boarded the bus last, which, in hindsight, turned out to be a blessing.
Blog text (9) -
Increases in divorce rates are not surprising in hindsight and were somewhat predictable.
Academic text (2006) -
In hindsight, I realize that my decision to move was the wrong one.
Synonyms
4
7.0
Looking back at events after they have happened
How Reflective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'when considering a past event with fuller knowledge' is directly and compositionally derived from 'in' (locative/temporal preposition) combined with 'hindsight' (seeing/understanding after the fact). This preposition + noun pattern is a common, predictable English structure and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand the phrase.
Etymology
In hindsight comes from the simple image of looking back: hind means 'behind' and sight means 'seeing'. So, to say in hindsight is to say 'after thinking about something later' when the situation looks clearer.