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

• nonprescient adjective
• nonpresciently adverb
• presciently adverb
• unprescient adjective
• unpresciently 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”; pre- ( def. ); science ( def. )

Example Sentences

In 1966 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a profound and prescient statement about health injustice, calling it “the most shocking and inhumane” form of inequality.

From Salon

Over the past year, Bannister has made at least one prescient call: He anticipated both the S&P 500 correction that played out in March and April, as well as the swift rebound that followed.

From MarketWatch

When Skarsgård took the stage to accept his award — to the tune of Usher’s “Yeah!,” for some reason — that scene from “Sentimental Value” was almost eerily prescient.

From Salon

That same year one prescient London reviewer predicted that the two contemporary authors who would still be read in 100 years would be Milne and Joseph Conrad.

From The Wall Street Journal

This observation proved prescient, since she made it weeks before viewers saw the first episodes.

From Salon

Related Words

• farsighted