insight

American  

[in-sahyt] / ˈɪnˌsaɪt /

noun

1. an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, especially through intuitive understanding.

   an insight into 18th-century life.

2. penetrating mental vision or discernment; faculty of seeing into inner character or underlying truth.

   Synonyms:

   grasp, understanding, intuition, apprehension, perception

3. Psychology.

   1. an understanding of relationships that sheds light on or helps solve a problem.

   2. (in psychotherapy) the recognition of sources of emotional difficulty.

   3. an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions, thoughts, or behavior; self-knowledge.

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insight British  

/ ˈɪnˌsaɪt /

noun

1. the ability to perceive clearly or deeply; penetration

2. a penetrating and often sudden understanding, as of a complex situation or problem

3. psychol

   1. the capacity for understanding one's own or another's mental processes

   2. the immediate understanding of the significance of an event or action

4. psychiatry the ability to understand one's own problems, sometimes used to distinguish between psychotic and neurotic disorders

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Other Word Forms

• insightful adjective

Etymology

Origin of insight

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; in- ¹ ( def. ) + sight ( def. )

Example Sentences

"In the future, these insights could lead to new therapies that imitate the beneficial effects of exercise on how cells repair damaged DNA and use fuel for energy."

From Science Daily

Find insight on crude futures, Venezuela and more in the latest Market Talks covering energy and utilities.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We’re making prediction markets data accessible to our users, because it’s a rapidly growing source of real-time insight into collective beliefs about future events,” Dow Jones Chief Executive Officer Almar Latour said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Their approach allows scientists to rank metabolic pathways based on how energetically demanding they are, offering valuable insight into biological efficiency and evolution.

From Science Daily

By following a pulsar's signal as it travels through space, these observations offer insight into the pulsar itself, Earth's motion, and the material in between.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• acumen
• intuition
• judgment
• observation
• understanding
• vision
• wisdom