Meaning & use
seer
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Meanings
nouncountableliterary
A person believed to see the future or hidden truths through special insight.
Grammar: Countable.
The king asked the seer what the omens meant.
Legend tells of a blind seer who warned the town.
nouncountablefigurative
A person who sees, or who has deep wisdom about what will come.
Grammar: Figurative; often in compounds like sightseer.
Critics called the author a seer of the digital age.
The economist was hailed as a seer after his forecast came true.
Word forms
| plural | seers |
|---|
Common combinations
- ancient seer
- An ancient seer foretold the war.
- blind seer
- The blind seer in the myth knew the truth.
- consult a seer
- Kings would consult a seer.
- visionary seer
- She wrote as a visionary seer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prophet
- A prophet speaks for a god, while a seer sees by insight.
- oracle
- An oracle is a source or place of prophecy.
- clairvoyant
- Clairvoyant is a modern term for a claimed psychic.
- fortune-teller
- Fortune-teller is informal and often a paid entertainer.
Word family
Commonly confused: seer or sear?
seer vs sear
Sear means to burn the surface; it sounds the same as seer in some accents.
Practice
In the myth, the king asked a ___ to predict the outcome of the battle.
Choose one answer.
A seer is a person who predicts the future. The others do not predict.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “seer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.