hindsight
Americannoun
noun
-
the ability to understand, after something has happened, what should have been done or what caused the event
-
a firearm's rear sight
Etymology
Origin of hindsight
Explanation
People who are able to look back on the past and understand what happened have hindsight. If you go skating on a frozen lake and it cracks, in hindsight you'd know you should've paid attention to the giant "danger" sign. Hindsight is like looking behind you to see what just happened (behind sight, get it?). Another way of describing retrospection, hindsight is a useful skill that can be cultivated. Hindsight often refers to a lesson learned from something going wrong. Billy Wilder, the American movie director, once commented wistfully, “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.” It's much easier to see clearly after something happened than before.
Vocabulary lists containing hindsight
Wonder
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Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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10 Words that Inspired Taylor Swift
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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.
But she told the audience at a book festival in Wales: "Definitely, with the benefit of hindsight, that was a decision I wish I had taken differently."
From BBC • May 29, 2026
There was this whole ‘90s nostalgia going around because in hindsight the ‘90s right now seems like a much simpler time.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
“In hindsight, it would’ve been better to have tightened policy earlier,” Powell acknowledged in a 2024 interview with “60 Minutes.”
From MarketWatch • May 10, 2026
In hindsight, Spirit couldn’t get costs low enough.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
If hindsight enhances our appreciation for the solidity and stability of the republican legacy, it also blinds us to the truly stunning improbability of the achievement itself.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
