hindsight

noun

hind·​sight ˈhīn(d)-ˌsīt 

: perception of the nature of an event after it has happened

In hindsight, it's clear there were alternatives.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Example Sentences

It's easy for us to say that the war was wrong, but we have the advantage of hindsight.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the officer’s threat assessment should be evaluated without the benefit of hindsight, the court said. —Lea Skene, USA TODAY, 17 May 2023

Unlike Pamela Anderson, that other ‘90s-era pinup who also felt the sting of tabloid celebrity and was recently the subject of a Netflix documentary, Smith is not here to tell her own story or reflect on anything in hindsight. —Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 17 May 2023

In hindsight, that framing looks especially unfortunate given the tragedies that would later befall Smith and her son, Daniel, who died of a drug overdose. —Brian Lowry, CNN, 16 May 2023

Viewed in hindsight, these anecdotes conjure empathy and foreboding. —Courtney Howard, Variety, 15 May 2023

Symmetries convey elegance, and their presence can be obvious in hindsight. —Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 18 Apr. 2023

In hindsight, coach Rodney Terry points to a game at TCU late in the regular season, with Texas seeking the Big 12 title. —Chuck Carlton, Dallas News, 24 Mar. 2023

But the great benefit of hindsight reveals one aspect of Iraq that can be instructive for our approach to Ukraine: democracy promotion. —David Harsanyi, National Review, 16 Mar. 2023

That the series spends so long struggling to do so feels, with the benefit of hindsight, less like a miscalculation than an intentional choice, mirroring Paige’s own tendency to paper over unruly feelings with strained laughs and forced cheer. —Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing hindsight

• twenty-twenty hindsight

• twenty-twenty hindsight

Kids Definition

hindsight

noun

hind·​sight ˈhīn(d)-ˌsīt 

: realization of the meaning or importance of an event only after it has happened