Definition of insight in English:

noun

• 1The capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something.

  ‘his mind soared to previously unattainable heights of insight’

  More example sentences

  • ‘And as we get older our perspectives grow wider: we forget a lot but we also gain more insight into things.’
  • ‘We also envisage this as a discovery kind of museum in which the villagers can gain some insight into science.’
  • ‘Words leave the page and become real, and you gain rare insight into the authors, their books, and their passions.’
  • ‘We thus gained insight into how easy it is for the whole content of the news to be controlled.’
  • ‘I think it's by reading his work that we can gain quick insight into how to become rich quickly.’
  • ‘Such austerities were employed in an attempt to gain insight into the fundamental nature of existence.’
  • ‘At best, you could gain some insight into how to improve your performance.’
  • ‘She has not gained insight into her pre-existing persecutory beliefs.’
  • ‘It gives us a way to gain some insight into what type of fatigue they're dealing with and the best way to manage that fatigue.’
  • ‘Thus, the British army never gained any insight into what had gone wrong in the last war.’
  • ‘Wisdom and love, insight into the Supreme and fellowship with other human beings had to go together.’
  • ‘Killeen however did have some insight into the reason behind the difference behind the shows.’
  • ‘The subject feels that he has gained insight into important truths and believes that he has a duty to share these with the world.’
  • ‘Seth gives us insight into the reasons for his divorce and why he needed to leave his job as an accountant.’
  • ‘She did not seem to have enough insight into the reasons for this disconnection.’
  • ‘This is the word from the Catholic Church, who have far more insight into these matters than lowly commoners such as myself.’
  • ‘Interviewing must have given him insight into human nature, but what insights has it given into himself?’
  • ‘Endurance could provide insight into the environmental history of the area, but there are risks.’
  • ‘Understanding of the role that deprivation has in epilepsy gives insight into its aetiology and management.’
  • ‘Did either one of you at any time feel that you got truly into his soul, insight into what makes this man tick?’

  Synonyms

  intuition, perception, awareness, discernment, understanding, comprehension, apprehension, appreciation, cognizance, penetration, acumen, astuteness, perspicacity, perspicaciousness, sagacity, sageness, discrimination, judgement, shrewdness, sharpness, sharp-wittedness, acuity, acuteness, flair, breadth of view, vision, far-sightedness, prescience, imagination

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1count noun An accurate and deep understanding.
     ‘his work provides important insights into language use’
     mass noun ‘the town offers some insight into Finnish rural life’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Secondly, other studies often provide insights that are suggestive for one's own data.’
     • ‘Einstein had deep insights into how to incorporate gravitation into relativity theory.’
     • ‘Rather, in this section we pull out for the reader the key assumptions and insights offered by each.’
     • ‘He had a lot of really deep insights, but its a tremendous lot of work to extract them from his text.’
     • ‘Clearly this does not give an accurate historical account but it can provide us with helpful insights.’
     • ‘Literature provides insights into the human condition in a way that no political treatise can match.’
     • ‘He provides insights but does not insist on answers; he records but is careful in his judgment.’
     • ‘They will provide powerful insights into the effects of different herbicide usage.’
     • ‘All this research has brought to the surface new detail, though few new insights.’
     • ‘The analysis of James as the ruler of a composite monarchy produces many new and important insights.’
     • ‘The events of the last weeks and months give important insights into the changes now underway.’
     • ‘To discover the past as it really was, we must probe it with insights derived from the present.’
     • ‘They offer their own insights into the text and interrogate the responses of others.’
     • ‘Recently Ms. Packer offered her design insights in creating floral arrangements.’
     • ‘This method is described and provides insights into the magnitude and basis of this limitation.’
     • ‘He does not offer us any insights into the historical and psychological reasons for the rise of Nazism.’
     • ‘There are other fun insights provided by the former royal chefs or servants.’
     • ‘The development of an embryo provides insights into the evolutionary origin of the animal.’
     • ‘Theories in international politics offer insights into the behaviour of states.’
     • ‘These provide insights about conditions that induce errors and the errors that result.’
     Synonyms

     understanding of, appreciation of, revelation about, illumination of

     View synonyms
  2. 1.2Psychiatry mass noun Awareness by a mentally ill person that their mental experiences are not based in external reality.
     ‘A growing body of evidence points to the fact that for many people with serious mental illness, lack of insight is a medically based condition.’
     ‘These results suggest that preserved insight may be a protective factor that buffers mentally ill mothers.’