foresee
Americanverb (used with object)
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foresees,
present (3rd person singular)
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foresaw,
past
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foreseen,
past participle
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foreseeing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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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
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foreseernoun
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foreseeableadjective
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unforeseeingadjective
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unforeseenadjective
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well-foreseenadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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foreseesimple
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foreseessimple
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have foreseenperfect
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has foreseenperfect
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am foreseeingprogressive
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are foreseeingprogressive
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is foreseeingprogressive
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have been foreseeingperfect progressive
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has been foreseeingperfect progressive
Past
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foresawsimple
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had foreseenperfect
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was foreseeingprogressive
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were foreseeingprogressive
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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-
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Walk Two Moons
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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
Some failures will be genuinely hard to foresee, and a standard that treats all harm as blameworthy will simply be ineffective.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 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
Good thing, perhaps, that one can't foresee the future.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
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
SpaceX says in its filing that it foresees $28.5 trillion—yes, trillion—in market opportunities, including data centers in space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
If Fidesz were to win those seats, he foresees a potential victory.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Rindos foresees eXp’s revenue rising by 3% in 2026, and expects $68 million in adjusted Ebitda, an increase of over 100%, “highlighting the operating leverage in this business as the number of transactions increase.”
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
“Mr. Curtain foresees a ‘call to greater duty’ in the near future.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said no-one foresaw the influx of 72,000 migrants in the exclave of Ceuta, as pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Aschenbrenner rose to prominence with a 2024 essay, called “Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead,” that foresaw the path of AI’s development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 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
“I think that was better than Finny’s,” said Elwin—better known as Leper—Lepellier, who was bidding for an ally in the dispute he foresaw.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
It is, therefore, mystifying as to how they got it so wrong, as the problems could be foreseen by anyone with an understanding of F1.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 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
To a degree that even critics could not have foreseen a year ago, the United States struts and frets on the world stage alone.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
While some supply-chain-related impact to IBM’s prior expectations were foreseen, “we did not anticipate the magnitude of the capex reprioritization,” Krishna said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Or that the government should have somehow foreseen the freak hurricane in the West Country that had caused so much damage to both people and property?
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
But that Qiu was in town at all suggests an intelligence failure for Beijing in not foreseeing the U.S. strike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 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
In his article, Mr Wallace says he thinks Mr Netanyahu feels "shame" for not foreseeing the deadly attacks - especially as "someone who presented himself as a security hawk and tough guy".
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2023
Regulators’ fascination with foreseeing how the tech giants could harm competition stems largely from their perceived failure to do so in the past.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 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
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