prescient

American  

[presh-uhnt, ‑ee-uhnt, pree-shuhnt, ‑shee-uhnt] / ˈprɛʃ ənt, ‑i ənt, ˈpri ʃənt, ‑ʃi ənt /

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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of prescient

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”; cf. pre- ( def. ); see science ( def. )

Explanation

To be prescient is to have foresight or foreknowledge. We can use this word to describe people themselves, or what they say or do at a given moment. You probably know that the Latin prefix pre- means "before," so you might be able to figure out that the word prescient, from the verb praescire, means to "know beforehand." People like economists, sports commentators, and political analysts often get tagged with this word, because it's part of their job to sift through the data and make predictions — and sometimes they get it right. And when they're not just lucky, we might say they're prescient.

Example Sentences

They can be prescient, too, like when Zohran Mamdani offered, days before winning the New York Democratic mayoral primary: “I should be the mayor.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026

A clip from 1994 showing experts making predictions for where football would be in 10 years recently resurfaced on social media, and fans online cannot believe how prescient some of their forecasts proved to be.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

In his prescient epilogue, Mr. Overhoff contends that the divide between Washington and Frederick is no “relic of transatlantic history” but an instructive guide to the present and future.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Because Harris Norton collected these acclaimed artists while they were still relatively unknown, she is often described as prescient.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

In some cases, we will find that Eratosthenes was prescient in his thinking; in others, that he was sloppy or mistaken, but that his errors had the fortuitous effect of canceling each other out.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• farsighted