hindsight
noun
Simple meaning
Understanding the nature of an event after it has happened.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hyndsytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhaɪndsaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Understanding the nature of an event after it has happened
“Hindsight is always better than foresight.”
Realization or understanding of the significance and nature of events after they have occurred.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Understanding the nature of an event after it has happened
Used this way, hindsight is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Hindsight is always better than foresight.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hindsight
- “Hindsight is always better than foresight.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.