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)
-
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:
Some large tech companies foresee a steady stream of cuts for years to come, while others say it’s still unclear how artificial intelligence will affect head counts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 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
"We do not foresee a restart within the next 10 days," plant director Romeo Urjan told the AFP news agency.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Jenner was astute at that sort of thing; he could foresee problems.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
The brokerage also foresees front-loading of exports for hybrid plug-ins and full EVs from 4Q26 to 1Q27 to avoid the impact of lower export-tax rebates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth foresees months of declining oil reserves and depleting global stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
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
If Fidesz were to win those seats, he foresees a potential victory.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
And it matters very little what one does or foresees, since if one does not separate or scatter the inhabitants, they will not forget that name or those institutions.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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
He foresaw a future in which Eliza would learn to model the user and the world through conversations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 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
Has the office served its purpose, or has it lingered one bureaucracy layered on top of a bunch of other bureaucracies, as some critics foresaw?
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
Of course Bacchus in granting the favor foresaw what would happen at the next meal, but Midas saw nothing until the food he lifted to his lips became a lump of metal.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
“The report card is pretty unimpressive. We all could have foreseen that this wasn’t going to go great.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
He said he had not foreseen a time when he would be monitoring so many sites and "certainly not having 16 choughlets fledge".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 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
Addressed to Burnham and the arts minister Lisa Nandy, the petition posted by activist group Good Law Project claimed Arday's death was "the direct, foreseeable and foreseen result of press harassment".
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
“I had not foreseen this,” Gwydion murmured, when Taran had finished.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
Second, stocks could be foreseeing a future that many Americans have yet to suss out—one, say, in which the war with Iran ends, inflation eases and growth picks up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 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
Perhaps foreseeing the Boeing Bust that followed in 1970, he left before the first 747 was delivered.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
He knew now why the Archmage had feared to send him forth, and what had darkened and clouded even the mage’s foreseeing of his future.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
