insight

American  

[in-sahyt] / ˈɪnˌsaɪt /

noun

1. an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, especially through intuitive understanding.

   an insight into 18th-century life.

2. penetrating mental vision or discernment; faculty of seeing into inner character or underlying truth.

   Synonyms:

   grasp, understanding, intuition, apprehension, perception

3. Psychology.

   1. an understanding of relationships that sheds light on or helps solve a problem.

   2. (in psychotherapy) the recognition of sources of emotional difficulty.

   3. an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions, thoughts, or behavior; self-knowledge.

---

insight British  

/ ˈɪnˌsaɪt /

noun

1. the ability to perceive clearly or deeply; penetration

2. a penetrating and often sudden understanding, as of a complex situation or problem

3. psychol

   1. the capacity for understanding one's own or another's mental processes

   2. the immediate understanding of the significance of an event or action

4. psychiatry the ability to understand one's own problems, sometimes used to distinguish between psychotic and neurotic disorders

---

Other Word Forms

• insightful adjective

Etymology

Origin of insight

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; in- ¹ ( def. ) + sight ( def. )

Example Sentences

So the Newsom and Cox campaigns opened a private back-channel, trading gossip, swapping insights on the race and even sharing some empirical data.

From Los Angeles Times

"Extending our survey season and location means a better range of data, which will provide further insights into the plight of our insects."

From BBC

These are all subject to individual insight and expertise.

From Barron's

A batch of government data due Tuesday—including March Tokyo consumer inflation and February industrial production and retail sales—should offer further insight into the state of the economy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sometimes his insights lead the authorities to a breakthrough.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• acumen
• intuition
• judgment
• observation
• understanding
• vision
• wisdom