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aforethought

American  
[uh-fawr-thawt, uh-fohr-] / əˈfɔrˌθɔt, əˈfoʊr- /

adjective

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

    with malice aforethought.

noun

  1. premeditation; forethought.

aforethought British  
/ əˈfɔːˌθɔːt /

adjective

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of aforethought

First recorded in 1575–85; afore + thought 2

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.

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

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2022

Everything he has done in his whole life has been with malice aforethought.

From Salon • Jun. 1, 2022

Ramos’s premeditation, or malice aforethought, is manifest also through time.

From Washington Post • Oct. 30, 2019

As Regina George, the reigning mean girl with malice aforethought, Taylor Louderman is a contender for lead actress in a musical.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2018

At dinner, with malice aforethought, I kept his plate heaped up and repeatedly filled his goblet with ice-cooled buttermilk.

From Chit-Chat; Nirvana; The Searchlight by Holt, Mathew Joseph

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.