Basic Details
Word: Insight
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A clear and deep understanding of a person, a problem or how something works.
Synonyms: understanding, perception
Sounds like: incite (to stir people up to do something, often something bad)
How to Spell Insight
Syllables: in - sight
Tricky part: The second part is sight, with the silent gh of light and night. Do not mix it up with incite, which sounds almost the same.
Watch out for: insite, insigt, inseight
Memory tip: Insight is sight from inside your mind: in + sight, seeing with your brain instead of your eyes.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Talking to the farmers gave the students real insight into how hard it is to grow rice.
Example 2: Dr Rao has a rare insight into how young children learn.
Example 3: The film gave us an insight into life on a submarine.
Fun Fact
In the 1910s the psychologist Wolfgang Kohler watched chimpanzees suddenly work out how to stack boxes to reach hanging bananas; he called that sudden understanding Einsicht, the German word for insight.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) insight
b) daylite
c) forcast
d) nightmere
Show answer
a) insight. Forcast drops the e of fore, while nightmere and daylite spell their second halves by sound.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
insight
a) ignorance
b) understanding
c) confusion
d) eyesight
Show answer
b) understanding. Insight is seeing with the mind, not the eyes, so it matches understanding.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
ghitsni
a) instinct
b) insight
c) nights
d) sighting
Show answer
b) insight. Nights uses six of these letters but leaves an i over; insight uses all seven.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Who is showing insight?
a) a boy who forgets his bag
b) a coach who spots why the team keeps losing
c) a girl who sleeps late
d) a man who shouts at traffic
Show answer
b) a coach who spots why the team keeps losing
2. Insight and incite sound alike. Which sentence uses insight correctly?
a) The book gave me insight into village life.
b) Rumours can insight anger.
c) The speaker tried to insight the crowd.
d) Do not insight a fight.
Show answer
a) The book gave me insight into village life.
