second sight

American  

noun

1. the faculty of seeing future events; clairvoyance.

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second sight British  

noun

1. the alleged ability to foresee the future, see actions taking place elsewhere, etc; clairvoyance

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second sight Idioms  

1. Clairvoyance, as in Jane must have second sight; she knew exactly where Dad had mislaid his keys. This expression, alluding to the supposed power of someone to perceive an event in the future or distance as though actually present, dates from the early 1600s.

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Other Word Forms

• second-sightedness
  noun
• secondsightedness
  noun
• second-sighted
  adjective
• secondsighted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of second sight

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

second sight

Dairymaids were said to have a kind of second sight, transforming milk into something alive and lasting with nothing more than time, touch, and faith in invisible powers.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025

Dessers volleyed over Abdallah Sima's cross with his first chance of the game, but the Nigeria international made no mistake with his second sight of goal.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2024

In “The OA,” a fable-like iteration of the resurrection theme, the heroine has perished many times over, blind in one incarnation but gifted in another with an extraordinary second sight.

From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2021

This Agnes is bestowed with not only second sight, but certain modern attitudes and an independence of thought that feel anachronistic.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 10, 2020

How else could she explain her powers of second sight, which could only come from someplace magical?

From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly