Basic Details
Word: Forethought
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Careful thinking and planning about the future before you act.
Synonyms: foresight, planning, prudence, care
Antonyms: carelessness, thoughtlessness, rashness
How to Spell Forethought
Syllables: fore - thought
Tricky part: It is fore, meaning before, joined to thought. Students write forth instead of fore, or lose letters from ought.
Watch out for: forthought, forethougth, forethaught
Memory tip: The thought comes before the action: fore + thought, and thought keeps its full ough + t.
Usage Examples
Example 1: With a little forethought, we packed raincoats for the trek to Cherrapunji.
Example 2: The smooth fire drill showed the warden's forethought.
Example 3: Lack of forethought left the team without water halfway up the hill.
Fun Fact
In Greek myth, Prometheus, who stole fire for humans, has a name usually explained as forethought. His brother Epimetheus, who acted first and thought later, was afterthought.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these compound words is spelt correctly. Choose it:
a) headake
b) forethought
c) sunflour
d) teaspon
Show answer
b) forethought. Headache, sunflower and teaspoon were each spelt with a wrong last part; forethought is right.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word forethought as used in the sentence:
The success of the school fair owed a lot to the forethought of the parents' committee.
a) prudence
b) carelessness
c) planning
d) foresight
Show answer
b) carelessness. Forethought is careful planning ahead; carelessness is the lack of it, while the other three mean much the same as forethought.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Thanks to his father's forthought, the family had torches and candles ready when the cyclone cut the power to the whole town.
a) cyclone
b) candles
c) forthought
d) torches
Show answer
c) forthought. The first part is fore, meaning before, not forth, meaning forward.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A traveller with forethought would ____.
a) carry a map and some water
b) forget to book a ticket
c) miss the last bus
d) leave the bags at home
Show answer
a) carry a map and some water
2. Which word is closest to forethought in meaning?
a) eyesight
b) foresight
c) hindsight
d) insight
Show answer
b) foresight
