forethought
Americannoun
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thoughtful provision beforehand; provident care; prudence.
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a thinking of something beforehand; previous consideration; anticipation.
noun
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advance consideration or deliberation
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thoughtful anticipation of future events
Synonym Usage
See prudence.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of forethought
First recorded in 1250–1300, forethought is from the Middle English word forthoght. See fore-, thought 1
Explanation
Forethought is considering or planning something ahead of time. With some forethought, you can make sure to cook enough food for all the friends you invited to your dinner party. People with forethought are good planners: it takes a little forethought to plan a trip to Europe or to make a monthly budget or to interview someone for a newspaper article. Instead of acting impulsively, using forethought means making a strategy or considering different outcomes before taking action. It comes from the obsolete forethink, "think of something beforehand," from Old English, foreþencan, "to premeditate or consider."
Vocabulary lists containing forethought
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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.
Forethought, which has about 150 employees, shifted course to become a lean AI startup, Nicholas said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026
Forethought is imagining how our current actions will impact our future selves.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2023
At just 37, the Oxford professor and director of the Forethought Foundation is renowned for his philosophy of “longtermism,” the view that positively influencing the far future is a key moral priority of our time.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2022
Forethought is also suggested by the documents of Maria Thuma Cosulich, a 1923 arrival from what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
From New York Times • Oct. 3, 2014
This Forethought is far more easily awakened, or exerted, than Attention itself, but it prepares it, just as Attention prepares Interest.
From The Mystic Will A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind, through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence by Leland, Charles Godfrey
Definitions 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.
