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foresee

[ fawr-see ]
/ fɔrˈsi /
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See synonyms for: foresee / foresaw / foreseeing / foreseen on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), fore·saw, fore·seen, fore·see·ing.
to have prescience of; to know in advance; foreknow.
to see beforehand.
verb (used without object), fore·saw, fore·seen, fore·see·ing.
to exercise foresight.
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Origin of foresee

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English foresēon.See fore-, see1

synonym study for foresee

1. See predict.

OTHER WORDS FROM foresee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT FORESEE

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.

Where does foresee come from?

The first records of the term foresee come from before the 900s. It ultimately comes from the Old English foresēon.

Foresight is commonly used as a synonym for care or understanding to imply that someone knows the best course of action to follow in a certain situation. Someone that foresees something has this care for, or understanding of, what is to come and can plan accordingly for it.

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What are some other forms related to foresee?

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What are some words that share a root or word element with foresee

What are some words that often get used in discussing foresee?

How is foresee used in real life?

People often claim to have foreseen something after it happens.

 

Try using foresee!

Is foresee used correctly in the following sentence?

Amita didn’t know she would be promoted because she foresaw it.

How to use foresee in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for foresee

foresee
/ (fɔːˈsiː) /

verb -sees, -seeing, -saw or -seen
(tr; may take a clause as object) to see or know beforehandhe did not foresee that

Derived forms of foresee

foreseeable, adjectiveforeseer, noun
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
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