foresee

verb

fore·​see fȯr-ˈsē 

foresaw fȯr-ˈsȯ  ; foreseen fȯr-ˈsēn  ; foreseeing

transitive verb

: to see (something, such as a development) beforehand

He could not have foreseen the consequences of his actions.

She foresaw the company's potential and invested early on.

foreseer

fȯr-ˈsē-ər 

-ˈsir

noun

Synonyms

• anticipate
• divine
• forefeel
• foreknow
• prevision

Choose the Right Synonym for foresee

foresee, foreknow, divine, anticipate mean to know beforehand.

foresee implies nothing about how the knowledge is derived and may apply to ordinary reasoning and experience.

economists should have foreseen the recession

foreknow usually implies supernatural assistance, as through revelation.

if only we could foreknow our own destinies

divine adds to foresee the suggestion of exceptional wisdom or discernment.

was able to divine Europe's rapid recovery from the war

anticipate implies taking action about or responding emotionally to something before it happens.

the waiter anticipated our every need

Examples of foresee in a Sentence

We couldn't have foreseen the consequences of our actions.

He foresees a day when all war will cease.

She foresaw the company's potential and invested early on.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Atlantic Council foresees this demographic crisis lasting through the 21st century and resulting in a dwarfed pool of ethnic Russians. —Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 10 Sep. 2024

What Zamata couldn’t have foreseen, though, is that she would be asked to sing on the show in the presence of musical theater legend Patti LuPone. —Amos Mac, Them, 9 Sep. 2024

The Morgan Stanley strategist who foresaw last month’s market correction says stocks that have lagged the rally in US stocks could get a boost if data due Friday provides further evidence of a resilient economy. —Sagarika Jaisinghani, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2024

Bond foresees similar AIs being trained with data sets from rival techniques, such as electron beam diffraction, which doesn’t require the preparation of crystals. —Byrobert F. Service, science.org, 1 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

foresee

verb

fore·​see fōr-ˈsē 

fȯr-

foresaw -ˈsȯ  ; foreseen -ˈsēn  ; foreseeing

: to see or realize beforehand : expect

foreseeable

-ˈsē-ə-bəl

adjective

foreseer

-ˈsē-ər

noun

Legal Definition

foresee

transitive verb

fore·​see

foresaw; foreseen; foreseeing

: to be aware of the reasonable possibility of (as an occurrence or development) beforehand