What is the best word to describe someone who always anticipates things?
Solution 1:
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines far-sighted as
having good judgment about what will be needed in the future and making wise decisions based on this:
Buying those shares was a very far-sighted move – they must be worth ten times their original value now.
They label this a “UK” definition, but I disagree. I’m a US person, and I believe that this meaning would be well understood here. Note that these definitions of farsighted (incidentally, not hyphenated):
Merriam-Webster:
able to predict what will or might happen in the future
Dictionary.com:
wise, as in foreseeing future developments: a farsighted statesman.
carry no geographic restriction.
Forward-looking has a similar meaning:
Merriam-Webster:
concerned with the future or planning for the future
Dictionary.com:
planning for or anticipating possible future events, conditions, etc.; progressive.
Words such as wise, sensible, sage, sagacious, and perspicacious are listed as synonyms for the above:
perspicacious:
Cambridge English Dictionary:
quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately:
His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.Merriam-Webster:
having or showing an ability to notice and understand things that are difficult or not obvious
Other suggested synonyms include intuitive, prophetic, and psychic, but I guess these are not what you want (with the possible exception of intuitive).
Footnote:
A more literal definition of farsighted,
which is frequently listed as the primary definition
(especially when it is not hyphenated), is:
Cambridge English Dictionary:
- long-sighted
- able to see things clearly that are far away but not things that are near you:
I’m so far-sighted, I can’t read the newspaper without my glasses.Dictionary.com:
- seeing objects at a distance more clearly than those near at hand; hyperopic.
- seeing to a great distance.
The antonym of this sense of farsighted is nearsighted:
Merriam-Webster:
unable to see things that are far away : able to see things that are close more clearly than things that are far away
while the antonym of the first sense is shortsighted:
Merriam-Webster:
not considering what will or might happen in the future; lacking foresight
although some people use these terms interchangeably. (Both of these words (especially shortsighted) can be hyphenated.)
Solution 2:
Such a person would be called a prognosticator.
Merriam-Webster
one who predicts future events or developments
Solution 3:
You can describe such a person as prescient:
prescient, adj.: knowing or behaving as if you know what will happen in the future
Such as "Arthur C. Clarke is an author who wrote eerily prescient works of fiction."
Solution 4:
The person in question is likely a visionary.
From dictionary.cambridge.org:
visionary noun [ C ] (ABLE TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE)
a person who has the ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc. will develop in the future and to plan in a suitable way
From oxforddictionaries.com:
NOUN (plural visionaries)
A person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like:
he is a visionary keen on policy-making
The website boasts that ‘Freeness is the now, and tomorrow for future music visionaries.’
She's written a book about space tourism, and talked to many of the visionaries behind the whole idea.
We need more such hands-on visionaries for the future of York if we are to create and maintain a competitive position on the world stage.
From M-W:
visionary noun
: a person who has clear ideas about what should happen or be done in the future
: a person who has a powerful imagination
3 : one having unusual foresight and imagination : a visionary in the computer industry
She's a visionary in her field.
Definition of visionary for Students : a person who has an exceptional ability to plan or have ideas for the future
From dictionary.com:
noun, plural visionaries.
- a person of unusually keen foresight.