aforethought

[uh-fawr-thawt, uh-fohr-]

adjective

1. thought thought of previously; premeditated (usually used predicatively).

   with malice aforethought.

noun

1. premeditation; forethought.

aforethought

/ əˈfɔːˌθɔːt /

adjective

1. (immediately postpositive) premeditated (esp in the phrase malice aforethought )

Word History and Origins

Origin of aforethought¹

First recorded in 1575–85; afore + thought ²

Example Sentences

“I killed Robert F. Kennedy willfully, premeditatedly, and with 20 years of malice aforethought,” he told the court, later explaining it was a reference to the 1948 birth of Israel.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And there’s no question it was a choice aforethought.

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Capote had no doubt that Ann — “Mrs. Bang Bang,” he once called her to her face — had offed her husband with malice aforethought, but in Montillo’s telling the evidence is less than clear-cut.

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The legal definition — and I might actually slaughter this a little myself — the legal definition of manslaughter is killing a human being without malice aforethought.

Read more on Salon

Her consistency of dress was a sign of reliability in the face of global change, a physical expression of her job as a living historical symbol and a tool wielded with precision, aforethought.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• calculated 
• careful 
• cautious 
• cold-blooded 
• conscious 
• meticulous 
• premeditated 
• prudent 
• purposeful 
• studious 
• thoughtful 
• willful