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prescient

prescient

16 8.9
Knowing about things before they happen
  • adjective
  • /ˈprɛʃənt/
  • Formal
translation icon : presciente
  • The author's prescient observations about technology's impact on society were astonishing.
  • remarkably prescient
  • proved prescient
  • prescient warnings

It was really sort of prescient on Tom Daschle's part.

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Examples

  • John Quincy Adams proved to be the most prescient about the coming conflict.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Well, he had some prescient insights, actually.

  • I mean, Arrested Development, incredible show that sort of was prescient about the Trump.

  • But the first is go read Snow Crash and appreciate how prescient that book was.

  • In so many ways and in so much of his work, he has always been prescient.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Your last newsletter was it was so prescient, it was so far ahead, but so accurate.

  • It's it was an urgent and prescient warning that our democracy is on the edge of disaster.

  • And I think it's, it's so prescient because we're in the middle of an extraordinary moment right now in terms of climate activism and awareness.

  • So Jim's book Currency Wars is as prescient as it comes.

  • Susan's work has been prescient over the years, often signaling ideas and approaches to come.

    Academic text (2005)

Synonyms

clairvoyant
vsprescient
9 9.3

Showing or claiming the ability to see events before they happen

involves simple prior knowledge without claiming supernatural perception
precognitive
vsprescient
2 9.9

To know about an event before it happens

is the ordinary descriptive form rather than the technical label
premonitory
vsprescient
1 9.8

A sign that warns of something bad that may happen

states knowledge of events before they occur rather than just warning
prophetical
vsprescient
  • Literature
1 9.1

Saying that something will happen in the future, often by a religious person

is based on general knowledge before events, not divine origin
foresighted
vsprescient
1 6.5

To plan ahead to meet future needs and avoid problems

focuses on knowing specific events beforehand rather than planning
divinatory
vsprescient
9.9

Relating to ways people try to tell the future

is about knowing events beforehand rather than the practice of divination
presentient
vsprescient
  • Archaic
9.9

Feeling that something will happen before it does

expresses knowledge rather than just a vague feeling or sense
foresightful
vsprescient
8.1

Able to think about and plan for the future

emphasizes planning skill not direct knowledge of upcoming events
prefigurative
vsprescient
  • Literature
9.9

Suggests or shows what will happen later in a vague, symbolic way

gives clear prior knowledge rather than vague symbolic suggestion
proleptic
vsprescient
  • Literature
9.9

Showing or suggesting something that will happen later

means actual prior knowledge of events rather than rhetorical foreshadowing

Antonyms

175 2.9

Not knowing that something is happening or true

How Predictive

clairvoyant
9 9.3
prophetic
33 7.4
prescient
  • Formal
16 8.9
insightful
79 5.7
intuitive
34 5.5

Surface Forms

prescient positive
presciencer comparative
prescientest superlative

Morphology

prescient = prescience (semi-transparent) = pre + sci + ent

The prefix 'pre-' ('before') and the idea of 'knowing' are recoverable, but the root 'sci-' is not a standalone English word and may be unfamiliar or be confused with 'science', so the connection is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Prescient comes from the Latin parts prae- meaning 'before' and scire meaning 'to know', the same root as in science. So to be prescient is to 'know before' — to see or predict events before they happen.