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What is the best word to describe someone who always anticipates things?

English Language & Usage Asked by Binsoi on August 21, 2021

What is the best word to describe a person who always anticipates or thinks of future or possible things (occurrences) according to previous events;
i.e., who extrapolates to the consequences of current information,
when those consequences are not obvious to others.

Examples in home and work contexts:

  • When he saw an excavation happening near his home,
    he anticipated that maybe the water line would be out and prepared for it.

  • When he saw a news item about an event that happened,
    he realized his boss is in tune with these events
    and he anticipated how this would affect his boss’s decisions and planning.

8 Answers

Clairvoyant might be the word you're looking for.

noun 1. a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact.

adjective 1. having or exhibiting an ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact. "he didn't tell me about it and I'm not clairvoyant"

Answered by JTP - Apologise to Monica on August 21, 2021

How about an Harbinger, which is one who shows what is coming or will come.

Also, a strategist, which is a person who is always planning things and the things that will result of other things. For that one I would say "a strategist of sorts".

Not to mention an "harbinger of sorts".

Answered by Danny Rodriguez on August 21, 2021

Such a person would be called a prognosticator.

Merriam-Webster

one who predicts future events or developments

Answered by Robert on August 21, 2021

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines far-sighted as

having good judgment about what will be needed in the future and making wise decisions based on this:
Buying those shares was a very far-sighted move – they must be worth ten times their original value now.

They label this a “UK” definition, but I disagree.  I’m a US person, and I believe that this meaning would be well understood here.  Note that these definitions of  farsighted  (incidentally, not hyphenated):

Merriam-Webster:

    able to predict what will or might happen in the future

Dictionary.com:

    wise, as in foreseeing future developments:  a farsighted statesman.

carry no geographic restriction.

Forward-looking has a similar meaning:

Merriam-Webster:

    concerned with the future or planning for the future

Dictionary.com:

    planning for or anticipating possible future events, conditions, etc.;  progressive.

Words such as wise, sensible, sage, sagacious, and perspicacious are listed as synonyms for the above:

perspicacious:

  Cambridge English Dictionary:

      quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately:
      His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.

  Merriam-Webster:

      having or showing an ability to notice and understand things that are difficult or not obvious

Other suggested synonyms include intuitive, prophetic, and psychic, but I guess these are not what you want (with the possible exception of intuitive).


Footnote:
A more literal definition of farsighted, which is frequently listed as the primary definition (especially when it is not hyphenated), is:

Cambridge English Dictionary:

  • long-sighted
  • able to see things clearly that are far away but not things that are near you:
    I’m so far-sighted, I can’t read the newspaper without my glasses.

Dictionary.com:

  • seeing objects at a distance more clearly than those near at hand; hyperopic.
  • seeing to a great distance.

The antonym of this sense of farsighted is nearsighted:

Merriam-Webster:

    unable to see things that are far away : able to see things that are close more clearly than things that are far away

while the antonym of the first sense is shortsighted:

Merriam-Webster:

    not considering what will or might happen in the future; lacking foresight

although some people use these terms interchangeably.   (Both of these words (especially shortsighted) can be hyphenated.)

Answered by Scott on August 21, 2021

Shrewd Pragmatic if we are talking about plans and effects on physical things Considerate if we are talking about anticipating other people's feelings and emotions and influencing them for the better with kindness Canny implies knowledge of cause and effect Astute implies observant Sensible Judicious Practical connotes knowledge of effects on physical things Politic like shrewd connotes knowledge of effects on the hearts and minds of others, and to a lesser extent the physical world

Some pejorative words below: Calculating Manipulative Cunning crafty Scheming Artful

Answered by sciskeptic on August 21, 2021

A prognosticator is the word you are looking for I believe.

To predict according to present indications or signs; foretell.

Reference

Answered by Gary on August 21, 2021

The person in question is likely a visionary.

From dictionary.cambridge.org:

visionary noun [ C ] (ABLE TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE)

a person who has the ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc. will develop in the future and to plan in a suitable way

From oxforddictionaries.com:

NOUN (plural visionaries)

A person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like:

he is a visionary keen on policy-making

The website boasts that ‘Freeness is the now, and tomorrow for future music visionaries.’

She's written a book about space tourism, and talked to many of the visionaries behind the whole idea.

We need more such hands-on visionaries for the future of York if we are to create and maintain a competitive position on the world stage.

From M-W:

visionary noun

: a person who has clear ideas about what should happen or be done in the future

: a person who has a powerful imagination

3 : one having unusual foresight and imagination : a visionary in the computer industry

She's a visionary in her field.

Definition of visionary for Students : a person who has an exceptional ability to plan or have ideas for the future

From dictionary.com:

noun, plural visionaries.

  1. a person of unusually keen foresight.

Answered by alwayslearning on August 21, 2021

You can describe such a person as prescient:

prescient, adj.: knowing or behaving as if you know what will happen in the future

Such as "Arthur C. Clarke is an author who wrote eerily prescient works of fiction."

Answered by Gnawme on August 21, 2021

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