insight
[in-sahyt]
- an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, especially through intuitive understanding: an insight into 18th-century life.
- penetrating mental vision or discernment; faculty of seeing into inner character or underlying truth.
- Psychology.
- an understanding of relationships that sheds light on or helps solve a problem.
- (in psychotherapy) the recognition of sources of emotional difficulty.
- an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions, thoughts, or behavior; self-knowledge.
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Origin of insight
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
intuitionobservationunderstandingacumenwisdomjudgmentvisionperceptionperspicacitysapiencedriftdiscernmentclicksagacitycomprehensionshrewdnesspenetrationdivinationperceptivitywavelengthExamples from the Web for insight
Contemporary Examples
He then provides some insight into his psyche - complete with Animal House reference.
Their intentions may be good, but their execution and insight are lousy.
But fun and insight are not always mutually exclusive, certainly not here.
He said Jacobovici and Wilson were simply the latest in a long line of people hoping to find further Biblical insight.
This is absurd, and an insight to how the GOP is likely to win big on Tuesday.
Historical Examples
With the insight of a kindred temperament he pronounced his verdict.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
He is remarkable for insight to the character of all with whom he has to do.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
But which was by nature and in fact the superior, no one with the least insight could have doubted.
Heather and SnowGeorge MacDonald
We forgive his insight, because there is nothing in it Pharisaical.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume IIMrs. Humphry Ward
There is a directness of aim in virtue which gives an insight into vice.
The RepublicPlato
insight
- the ability to perceive clearly or deeply; penetration
- a penetrating and often sudden understanding, as of a complex situation or problem
- psychol
- the capacity for understanding one's own or another's mental processes
- the immediate understanding of the significance of an event or action
- psychiatry the ability to understand one's own problems, sometimes used to distinguish between psychotic and neurotic disorders
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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
Word Origin and History for insight
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
insight
(ĭn′sīt′)- Understanding, especially an understanding of the motives and reasons behind one's actions.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.