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
Unwind
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The Serpent's Secret
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"The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry
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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.
And shopping was something that required time, planning and forethought.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
“It requires a lot of forethought and planning to remain at home,” said Loverde, who lives in Chicago.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
"What we do need though is some forethought on this."
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2025
It seems that the administration may have not applied its usual level of forethought and analytical rigor to this decision.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2025
Well, I amended, they hadn’t exactly seen it, since enough of the original time travelers had had the conscience and forethought to realize what was happening and fix things before everything went too haywire.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
