The Meaning of Insight: What It Is and How To Use It

What does insight mean, and how is the word insight used in the English language? This article explains the meaning of insight.

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Have you ever seen the word insight and wondered what its definition was? This article will teach you everything to know about the word insight and how it is used in sentences. This article will provide you with the definition of insight, example sentences, its origin, translations, synonyms, and antonyms. Let’s get started!

What Does the Word Insight Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, the noun insight refers to understanding the inner nature of things or an intuitive understanding of something’s true nature. This type of mental vision can be about anything, from the immediate understanding of an event’s significance to self-knowledge about one’s own behavior. The word insight is two syllables (in-sight), and the pronunciation of insight is ˈɪnˌsaɪt.

In psychology, psychotherapy, and psychiatry, insight refers specifically to understanding a complex situation, an understanding of relationships, an understanding of the motivational forces of mental processes, neurotic disorders, and an understanding of the motives of a person’s actions.

What Is the Origin of Insight?

According to Lexico, the word insight has been used since Middle English and comes from Low German origin and Scandinavian languages. This word comes from words meaning inner sight. This word is related to the Dutch inzicht, Swedish insikt, Danish indsigt, and German einsicht.

What Are Examples of Insight?

It is important to know how to use the word insight in a sentence. If you simply know the definition of insight but do not know how to use it in a sentence, then knowing the definition of insight is less useful. 

Study these example sentences that contain the word insight to learn how to use it in a sentence:

These fresh insights into the situation provided the jury with a sudden understanding of exactly what had happened.

Learning the new insights about his brother made him reflect on his problems. It was on that day that he decided to make a change.

The museum gave a rare insight into the realities of 18th-century life. While people might have come into the museum romanticizing the olden days, it showed people how hard it was to live without modern necessities.

He had a sudden insight into his inner character after receiving feedback from the team.

Thanks to the power of acute observation, she discovered fresh new insights into artificial intelligence.

Large amounts of data about consumer behavior were studied to gain consumer insight and consumer understanding, leading to the innovation of the products.

What Are Translations of Insight?

The word insight is not strictly an English language word. Numerous languages have their own words for the word insight. By studying this list of translations of insight, you can learn how to communicate about insights and understandings with people who do not speak English: 

  • Malayalam: ഉള്ക്കാഴ്ച
  • Portuguese (Portugal): entendimento
  • Russian: на виду
  • Gujarati: સમજશક્તિ
  • Polish: wgląd
  • Spanish: visión
  • Filipino: kabatiran
  • Dutch: in zicht
  • Korean: 통찰력
  • Catalan: perspicàcia
  • Italian: intuizione
  • Icelandic: innsýn
  • Portuguese (Brazil): entendimento
  • Latvian: ieskats
  • Malay: Insight
  • Czech: porozumění
  • Slovak: náhľad
  • Danish: indsigt
  • Chinese (PRC): 洞察力
  • Norwegian: innsikt
  • Arabic: بصيرة
  • Japanese: 洞察
  • Kannada: ಒಳನೋಟ
  • Greek: διορατικότητα
  • Welsh: cipolwg
  • Hungarian: betekintés
  • French: aperçu
  • Indonesian: wawasan
  • Amharic: ማስተዋል
  • Serbian: на видику
  • Finnish: näkemys
  • Turkish: içgörü
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 洞察力
  • Hebrew: תוֹבָנָה
  • Basque: zolitasun
  • Ukrainian: в полі зору
  • German: Einblick
  • Marathi: अंतर्दृष्टी
  • Swedish: insikt
  • Vietnamese: cái nhìn sâu sắc
  • Telugu: అంతర్దృష్టి
  • Slovenian: vpogled
  • Tamil: இன்சைட்
  • Urdu: بصیرت
  • Lithuanian: įžvalga
  • Hindi: अंतर्दृष्टि
  • Thai: ข้อมูลเชิงลึก
  • Bengali: অন্তর্দৃষ্টি
  • Estonian: arusaama
  • Croatian: uvid
  • Romanian: Insight

What Are Synonyms of the Word Insight?

Power Thesaurus states that insight has many synonyms. Synonyms of insight are words that have the same definition as the word insight but might have a different connotation. Learning synonyms of the word insight can be a great way to grow your current vocabulary exponentially!

  • acuity
  • acumen
  • acuteness
  • appreciation
  • appreciation of
  • apprehension
  • astuteness
  • awareness
  • brain wave
  • brainstorm
  • brainwave
  • clairvoyance
  • cleverness
  • cognition
  • cognizance
  • comprehension
  • consciousness
  • discernment
  • discretion
  • discrimination
  • enlightenment
  • feeling
  • foresight
  • illumination
  • illuminations
  • imagination
  • ingenuity
  • inspiration
  • instinct
  • intelligence
  • intuition
  • intuitiveness
  • judgment
  • keenness
  • knowledge
  • light
  • penetration
  • perception
  • perceptiveness
  • perceptivity
  • percipience
  • perspicacity
  • prescience
  • profundity
  • recognition
  • responsiveness
  • sagaciousness
  • sagacity
  • sageness
  • sapience
  • savvy
  • second sight
  • sense
  • sensibility
  • sensitivity
  • sharpness
  • shrewdness
  • sixth sense
  • understanding
  • view
  • vision
  • wisdom
  • wit

What Are Antonyms of the Word Insight?

Insight also has numerous antonyms, which are words that have the opposite definition. Power Thesaurus lists these antonyms of insight below, and we can use these words in any situation where we would refer to something that is the opposite of insight. How many of these words do you already know?

  • absurdity
  • actuality
  • actualness
  • apple sauce
  • arseholery
  • asininity
  • basis
  • being
  • benightedness
  • blankness
  • blind
  • brainlessness
  • calculation
  • case
  • certainty
  • certitude
  • chumpishness
  • claptrap
  • cluelessness
  • concrete
  • corporality
  • corporeality
  • craziness
  • daftness
  • denseness
  • dimness
  • doltishness
  • dopiness
  • doziness
  • dull-headedness
  • dullness
  • folly
  • foolishness
  • ignorance
  • insanity
  • lack of knowledge
  • lack of understanding
  • madness
  • mindlessness
  • obtuseness
  • preposterousness
  • silliness
  • simpleness
  • slowness
  • stupidity
  • thickness
  • violence
  • witlessness
  • zaniness

Conclusion

The word insight refers to the extended understanding of a subject, the recognition of sources of emotional difficulty, or an understanding of a specific cause or piece of information. This term can be used in psychology and big data as well. 

Sources:

  1. Insight synonyms – 1 013 Words and Phrases for Insight | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Insight Antonyms | Power Thesaurus 
  3. INSIGHT English Definition and Meaning | Lexico.com 
  4. Insight | Collins Dictionary