second sight

American  

noun

1. the faculty of seeing future events; clairvoyance.

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second sight British  

noun

1. the alleged ability to foresee the future, see actions taking place elsewhere, etc; clairvoyance

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second sight Idioms  

1. Clairvoyance, as in Jane must have second sight; she knew exactly where Dad had mislaid his keys. This expression, alluding to the supposed power of someone to perceive an event in the future or distance as though actually present, dates from the early 1600s.

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Other Word Forms

• second-sighted adjective
• second-sightedness noun
• secondsighted adjective
• secondsightedness noun

Etymology

Origin of second sight

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

Dairymaids were said to have a kind of second sight, transforming milk into something alive and lasting with nothing more than time, touch, and faith in invisible powers.

From Salon • Oct. 12, 2025

Dessers volleyed over Abdallah Sima's cross with his first chance of the game, but the Nigeria international made no mistake with his second sight of goal.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2024

There are the blind seers, whose loss of vision affords them a spiritual second sight, like Tiresias from Greek mythology and Neo from the “Matrix” series.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2021

This Agnes is bestowed with not only second sight, but certain modern attitudes and an independence of thought that feel anachronistic.

From Washington Post • Oct. 10, 2020

He wanted to comfort her, but the night had given him no language, no second sight, no power to see into the heart of any other.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin