foresee
Americanverb (used with object)
-
foresees,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foresaw,
past
-
foreseen,
past participle
-
foreseeing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
foresees,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foresaw,
past
-
foreseen,
past participle
-
foreseeing
present participle
verb
Usage
What does foresee mean? To foresee is to know in advance, as in With all the rain we’ve been having, it was easy to foresee that the river would overflow its banks. Foresee is different from predict or forecast because to foresee is to know, while to predict or forecast is to guess or calculate rather than to know. Sometimes, though, foresee is used as a synonym for predict to exaggerate one’s confidence in a prediction. Example: I can foresee where this is going and I want no part of it.
Synonym Usage
See predict.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
foreseernoun
-
foreseeableadjective
-
unforeseeingadjective
-
unforeseenadjective
-
well-foreseenadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
foreseesimple
-
foreseessimple
-
have foreseenperfect
-
has foreseenperfect
-
am foreseeingprogressive
-
are foreseeingprogressive
-
is foreseeingprogressive
-
have been foreseeingperfect progressive
-
has been foreseeingperfect progressive
Past
-
foresawsimple
-
had foreseenperfect
-
was foreseeingprogressive
-
were foreseeingprogressive
-
had been foreseeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of foresee
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English foresēon. See fore-, see 1
Explanation
When you foresee something, you predict or realistically envision it happening. Did you foresee your team winning the playoffs, or were you surprised? Think of foresee as “to see before.” Prophets in literature are able to foresee events that come to pass; in Greek mythology Tiresias is known for his ability to foresee the future. But foresee is not always linked to a supernatural sense. Regular people can foresee events by imagining them taking place — and sometimes we use this as a way of prevention. If you foresee yourself failing geometry if you don’t study more, you will probably hit the books.
Vocabulary lists containing foresee
Power Prefix: fore-
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Walk Two Moons
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A spokesperson said they did not foresee any problems with gas supply: "We have a diverse energy mix and are confident in our security of supply."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The software can analyze airline schedules and factors such as weather, airport runway capacity and operational constraints to predict air-traffic flows and foresee potential conflicts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
He failed to foresee the return to form of small-cap stocks in the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
“If I can foresee this, then I think an engineer who’s designing the product can foresee it too.”
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
"What did you expect? Capricorn knew where you lived. Anyone could foresee that he’d send his men out when you’d escaped him. He always takes revenge."
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
The investment bank foresees existing-home sales next year that are 26% below 2019’s levels.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
In its first look into 2027, the International Energy Agency said it foresees the return of an oil glut due to record investments.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
The agreement foresees a phased lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports as well as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, something European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said should happen immediately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
If Fidesz were to win those seats, he foresees a potential victory.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
And it matters very little what one does or foresees, since if one does not separate or scatter the inhabitants, they will not forget that name or those institutions.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Ireland said its new draft -- which used 2025 prices -- foresaw an overall cut on the earlier proposal of 141 billion euros, or 8 percent overall.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
At the start of the season nobody foresaw much, if any, of this.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The signers of the Declaration of Independence never foresaw a World Cup, much less an American World Cup team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Has the office served its purpose, or has it lingered one bureaucracy layered on top of a bunch of other bureaucracies, as some critics foresaw?
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
Otherwise, he noticed nothing unusual and foresaw no difficulty in improving the kiln’s operation.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Inui notes that U.S. economic activity continues to hold up better than foreseen, “creating scope for companies operating in the lower-expectation areas of the market to deliver earnings beats.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
But Sanchez on Wednesday said on X that with the information available "no one could have foreseen the migration crisis that unfolded".
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Anyway all the flirtations and memoranda came to nothing, as foreseen in these pages and elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
He said he had not foreseen a time when he would be monitoring so many sites and "certainly not having 16 choughlets fledge".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Although he had never thought of it as an omen, Colonel Aureliano Buendía had foreseen the tragic end of his sons in a certain way.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Second, stocks could be foreseeing a future that many Americans have yet to suss out—one, say, in which the war with Iran ends, inflation eases and growth picks up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
He is shifting Brazil exposure to longer-term bonds, foreseeing a “neutral” interest rate of 10% to 11%, eventually.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
Zarqa Al Yamama is the story of a blue-eyed tribal matriarch with the gift of foreseeing the future in pre-Islamic Arabia.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2024
The A.M.A., reflecting a now bygone era perhaps more optimistic than our own, was foreseeing a continuing tide of advances in medical science that would carry people along in good health for decade after decade.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
“That’s the one,” said Harry, foreseeing a great danger and determining to prevent it immediately.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
