What does prescient mean?
Word: Prescient
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Prescient means knowing, or seeming to know, about things before they happen.
Synonyms: visionary
How do you spell prescient?
Syllables: pre - sci - ent
Tricky part: The c after the s is easily lost, because it adds no sound of its own. Students who spell by ear leave it out.
Watch out for: presient, prescent
Memory tip: Scissors and scent both keep a c right after the s. Picture a pair of scissors snipping through the middle of this word.
Prescient in a sentence
Example 1: Mr Iyer's prescient decision to plant neem trees ten years ago gives the playground shade today.
Example 2: Grandfather was prescient about mobile phones and told us they would replace letters.
Example 3: The science club's prescient report warned that the old well would run low in a dry year.
Fun Fact
In 1945 the writer Arthur C Clarke described satellites that would stay above one spot on Earth and pass signals round the world. Nearly twenty years later they were real, and his article is often called prescient.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
pr_sci_nt
a) a, e
b) e, e
c) i, e
d) e, a
Show answer
b) e, e. The first gap takes the e of press, and the second the e that follows the i in science.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Nani's tnecpisre advice to pack umbrellas for the school trip kept the whole class dry.
a) precedent
b) president
c) persistent
d) prescient
Show answer
d) prescient. President and precedent need a d, and persistent needs a second t, so only one option uses these nine letters.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
presscient
a) e
b) c
c) n
d) s
Show answer
d) s. A single s is all the word needs before the c.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning.
1. prescient 2. sagacous 3. shrwed 4. perceptiv
a) able to sense events ahead of time
b) clever at judging people and deals
c) wise and showing sound judgement
d) quick to notice small details
Show answer
a) able to sense events ahead of time. Sagacious has an i before ous, shrewd has its e before the w, and perceptive ends in an e.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which remark might earn a person the word prescient today?
a) In 1990 he said we would all read books on screens.
b) In 1990 he said he read two books every single week.
c) In 1990 he said he liked reading books on trains.
d) In 1990 he said his town library had just opened.
Show answer
a) In 1990 he said we would all read books on screens.
2. A critic calls a novel from the 1950s prescient. What is she praising?
a) the way it sold well in its opening year
b) the way it matches what later came true
c) the way it describes life in a village
d) the way it uses very long sentences
Show answer
b) the way it matches what later came true
