foresee
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to see or realize that something will happen before it occurs.
to perceive a situation or event in advance; to anticipate based on current evidence or intuition.
Simple“No one could foresee that the company would grow so quickly.”
In context“Economists failed to foresee the sudden collapse of the housing market despite several warning signs in the preceding months.”
UsageCommonly followed by a noun phrase or a 'that' clause.
Teacher's tipWhile 'predict' is often based on data, 'foresee' often implies a mental vision or a sense of knowing what is coming.
PitfallI didn't foresee about the problem. I didn't foresee the problem.Foresee is a transitive verb; you foresee something directly, you do not foresee 'about' it.
Synonyms
“Broad , attended séances and thought about the possibility of precognition—the ability to foresee future events.”
From Middle English foreseen, forseen, from Old English foresēon; equivalent to fore- + see. Similar formations in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen, Latin prōvideō, (whence provide and purvey), Ancient Greek πρόοιδα (próoida), Polish przewidzieć, Russian провидеть (providetʹ).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.