insight

[ in-sahyt ]
See synonyms for: insightinsights on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. 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.

Origin of insight

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; in-1 + sight

Other words for insight

Words that may be confused with insight

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use insight in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for insight

insight

/ (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

  1. psychol

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

    • the immediate understanding of the significance of an event or action

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

Derived forms of insight

  • insightful, adjective

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with insight

insight

Within one's range of vision, as in The sailboat was still in sight on the horizon. [c. 1200]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.