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

Andreessen’s prescient call foreshadowed 15 years of transformation and arguably trillions in value creation.

From Barron's

Taking the opposite side of the expressed emotion telegraphed by the VIX has often been prescient.

From Barron's

Was it a prescient warning or a bunch of hot air?

From The Wall Street Journal

One prescient call in 2023 from its “age of scarcity” predicted an era of cheap credit and commodities was ending and that so-called real assets and infrastructure would benefit.

From MarketWatch

Late Thursday night, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial with a headline that read like a prescient sigh of relief: “The Embarrassing Truth About Tariffs.”

From Salon

Related Words

• farsighted