widely foreseen

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "widely foreseen" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing predictions or expectations that are generally accepted or anticipated by a large number of people. Example: "The economic downturn was widely foreseen by analysts, who had been warning about the potential risks for months."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

The likelihood of a bloody quagmire was widely foreseen before the attack.

The Guardian - Opinion

But Mr. Gerstner's move was widely foreseen within the company and the computer business, as was the decision by the I.B.M. board today to name Samuel J. Palmisano, the president, as the new chief executive.

The New York Times

What's going on now, however, is beyond that: the "financial accelerator," with deleveraging causing a credit crunch that forces further deleveraging, and now threatens to produce a sort of pancake collapse of the whole system, was not, I think, so widely foreseen.

The New York Times

The only problem with the one that was widely foreseen by everyone except Ferdinand and Redknapp: that the former Manchester United captain was no longer up to being the linchpin of a Premier League defence, certainly when those alongside him were not of the very highest class.

The Guardian - Sport

It is widely foreseen that excess illness and deaths in a future pandemic may place serious demands on and even exhaust the available hospital resources in a community.

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

55 human-written examples

One recent deployment trend, foreseen to be widely used for long-term evolution (LTE) advanced networks, consists of splitting the base station functionalities into a control unit, whose main task is scheduling, and several remote radio heads (RRH), responsible for all the radio frequency operations.

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

A variation database that accepts genotype and phenotype data not already in the public domain (or that are in the public domain but whose combination and integration are foreseen to change the degree of identifiability of persons) and makes them widely available, should have an independent and well-informed oversight group.

Human Mutation

His statement appeared to reflect several factors: Iraq's will to fight has proved stronger than foreseen, the 125,000 British and American troops now inside Iraq are stretched and the popular uprising widely expected in the south has not happened.

The New York Times

So far, so foreseen.

The Economist

He had foreseen her suicide.

The New Yorker

Such reaction was foreseen.

The Guardian - Tech

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Consider the context: While "widely foreseen" is generally appropriate, alternatives like "generally anticipated" or "broadly expected" might be more suitable depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.

Common error

Avoid using "widely foreseen" too frequently in your writing. Vary your vocabulary by using synonyms such as "generally anticipated" or "commonly predicted" to maintain reader engagement.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "widely foreseen" functions as an adverb-verb construction. The adverb "widely" modifies the verb "foreseen", indicating the extent to which something was anticipated. As Ludwig AI explains, the phrase is grammatically correct.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

60%

Science

40%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "widely foreseen" is a grammatically sound and usable expression in English, indicating that an event or outcome was anticipated by many. Ludwig AI confirms its correctness. Although relatively rare in usage, it's suitable for both neutral and professional contexts, particularly in news, science and some business-related documents. Consider alternatives like "generally anticipated" or "broadly expected" for stylistic variation. While it's crucial to use "widely foreseen" appropriately, avoiding overuse will ensure clarity and prevent redundancy in writing.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

widely anticipated

A very close synonym, replacing "foreseen" with "anticipated".

generally anticipated

This alternative replaces "widely" with "generally", softening the scope of anticipation.

broadly expected

This alternative substitutes "foreseen" with "expected", focusing on expectation rather than prediction.

commonly predicted

This alternative replaces "widely" with "commonly" and "foreseen" with "predicted" emphasizing the act of prediction.

largely anticipated

This alternative uses "largely" instead of "widely", which implies a significant but not necessarily universal anticipation.

extensively predicted

This emphasizes the degree to which something was predicted.

foreseen by many

This alternative restructures the phrase to emphasize the number of people who foresaw the event.

predicted by most

Replacing "widely" with "most" and "foreseen" with "predicted" offers a slightly less formal tone.

generally expected outcome

This converts the phrase into a noun phrase, describing the outcome itself as generally expected.

commonly anticipated event

Similar to the previous, this makes it a noun phrase centered on the event.

FAQs

How can I use "widely foreseen" in a sentence?

You can use "widely foreseen" to describe an event or outcome that many people anticipated. For example, "The economic downturn was "widely foreseen" by analysts."

What can I say instead of "widely foreseen"?

You can use alternatives like "generally anticipated", "broadly expected", or "commonly predicted" depending on the context.

Is "widely foreseen" the same as "easily foreseen"?

No, ""widely foreseen"" means that many people predicted it, while "easily foreseen" means it was simple to predict, regardless of how many people did.

When is it appropriate to use "widely foreseen" versus "unexpected"?

"Widely foreseen" is appropriate when an event was anticipated, whereas "unexpected" is used when an event was surprising and not predicted.