prescient

[presh-uhnt, ‑ee-uhnt, pree-shuhnt, ‑shee-uhnt]

adjective

1. having prescience, or knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen; having foresight.

   The prescient economist was one of the few to see the financial collapse coming.

Other Word Forms

• presciently adverb
• nonprescient adjective
• nonpresciently adverb
• unprescient adjective
• unpresciently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescient¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Old French, from Latin praesciēns (stem praescient- ), present participle of praescīre “to know beforehand,” equivalent to prae- “before” + scīre “to know”; pre- ( def. ); science ( def. )

Example Sentences

This is the little-known but prescient speech that Saladin Ambar expertly parses and intriguingly reinterprets in “Murder on the Mississippi.”

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Rather filed an unsuccessful $70 million lawsuit against the network, and in the years that followed, he delivered a series of prescient warnings about the chilling effects of political appeasement.

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We’ve reached a point in history where many of the darker speculative assumptions about our collective future have become disconcertingly prescient.

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Pointing out that Anderson hasn’t won a trophy yet despite 11 nominations, Katie Walsh says, “The bracing, electrifying and stunningly prescient ‘One Battle After Another’ feels like his moment.”

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Much like with its grilled cheeses, Chanel boots and the decline of the print industry, “The Devil Wears Prada” remains scarily prescient when it comes to assessing our culture.

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Related Words

• farsighted