clairvoyance
Americannoun
-
the supernatural power of seeing objects or actions removed in space or time from natural viewing.
-
quick, intuitive knowledge of things and people; sagacity.
- Synonyms:
- vision, discernment, penetration, intuition
noun
-
the alleged power of perceiving things beyond the natural range of the senses See also extrasensory perception
-
keen intuitive understanding
Etymology
Origin of clairvoyance
First recorded in 1840–50; from French, equivalent to clairvoy(ant) clairvoyant + -ance -ance
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How does clairvoyance compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Clairvoyance is a magical kind of intuition. You could attempt to prove your clairvoyance by predicting which team will win the Superbowl. Have you ever heard of the "sixth sense," the mysterious ability to know something that can't be observed? That's clairvoyance. The ability to tell the future, read someone's mind, or communicate with dead people could all be described as clairvoyance. The French prefix clair, or "clear," combined with voir, "to see," gave us the word clairvoyance.
Vocabulary lists containing clairvoyance
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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.
They demand rigorous proof of safety and efficacy; they don’t require clairvoyance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
A generous benefactor to academia, Bigelow also gave millions to the University of Nevada during the 1990s to study supposed psychic phenomena, such as telepathy, clairvoyance and the possibility of life after death.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 25, 2023
The actor, who famously starred as teenage psychic Raven Baxter on the Disney Channel comedy “That’s So Raven,” talked psychic energy, clairvoyance and déjà vu with co-host Maday and guest Keke Palmer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2023
Longworth has come to be known for her cinematic clairvoyance, or at least her ability to channel this on the podcast, her voice often described as dreamy.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2023
But divining the chunks that have been mastered by a typical reader requires a gift of clairvoyance with which few of us are blessed.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
