Standard Lemma guide

forethought

adj · noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /fɔː(ɹ)ˈθɔːt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔːt
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈfɔː(ɹ)θɔːt/
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO1 R TH AO2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Thought of, or planned, beforehand.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • c. 1613–1621, Francis Bacon, The judicial charge upon the commission of Oyer and Terminer held for the verge of the Court Forethought malice.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aforethought, premeditated

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Thinking beforehand or in advance, planning; prior or previous consideration.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Near-synonym: foresight
  • With a little forethought we'd have planned for this contingency and not been stuck here now.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: premeditation, foresight

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Anticipation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Provident care; prudence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

simple past and past participle of forethink

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

judiciousness in avoiding harm or danger

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he exercised caution in opening the door
  • he handled the vase with care

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: caution, precaution, care

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: judiciousness

7

noun

Meaning 7

planning or plotting in advance of acting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: premeditation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: planning, preparation, provision

History

Etymology

From Middle English forethouht, forethoght, from Old English *foreþōht (“forethought”); equivalent to fore- + thought. See also forethink.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: преднамереност (prednamerenost) — thinking beforehand
  • Finnish: ennakointi — thinking beforehand
  • Finnish: kauaskatseisuus — thinking beforehand
  • Ancient Greek: προμήθεια (promḗtheia) — thinking beforehand
  • Ancient Greek: πρόνοια (prónoia) — thinking beforehand
  • Icelandic: fyrirhyggja — thinking beforehand
  • Latin: praecogitatio — thinking beforehand
  • Macedonian: премисла (premisla) — thinking beforehand
  • Malayalam: മുൻവിചാരം (muṉvicāraṁ) — thinking beforehand
  • Polish: premedytacja — thinking beforehand
  • Polish: przezorność — thinking beforehand
  • Russian: предусмотрительность (predusmotritelʹnostʹ) — thinking beforehand
  • Russian: продуманность (produmannostʹ) — thinking beforehand
  • Russian: обдуманность (obdumannostʹ) — thinking beforehand
  • Turkish: ihtiyat — thinking beforehand
  • Ukrainian: продуманість (produmanistʹ) — thinking beforehand
  • Ukrainian: обдуманість (obdumanistʹ) — thinking beforehand
  • Finnish: ennakointi — anticipation
  • Polish: oczekiwanie — anticipation
  • Ukrainian: передбачливість (peredbačlyvistʹ) — anticipation
  • Bulgarian: предвидливост (predvidlivost) — provident care
  • Finnish: järki — provident care
  • Finnish: järkevyys — provident care
  • Polish: roztropność — provident care
  • Polish: rozwaga — provident care