clairvoyant

clairvoyant — noun

IPA/ˌkleəˈvɔɪ.ənt/
KK[klɛrvˈɔɪənt]IPA/ˌklerˈvɔɪ.ənt/
  • clairvoyantsingular
  • clairvoyantsplural

1. someone who says they can know things about the future or about hidden events by

1.nounC1
Definition

someone who says they can know things about the future or about hidden events by using a special mental power, rather than by ordinary thinking or seeing.

Example

Talia paid a clairvoyant fifty pounds to read her future from a deck of cards.

pattern: pay a clairvoyant + to-infinitive

After her husband disappeared, Reema began visiting a clairvoyant every Sunday afternoon.

collocation: visit a clairvoyant

Common collocations
  • consult a clairvoyant
  • visit a clairvoyant
  • a self-proclaimed clairvoyant
  • a famous clairvoyant
Synonyms
  • psychic

    most common everyday term; covers the same kind of practitioner without sounding old-fashioned.

  • fortune-teller

    more casual; focuses on predicting personal future, often with cards or palms.

  • seer

    literary or archaic; suggests a respected visionary rather than a paid service.

  • medium

    narrower — specifically someone who claims to speak with the dead.

Antonyms
  • skeptic

    someone who refuses to believe in such powers.

Grammar Patterns

a clairvoyant

consult a clairvoyant

Usage Note

Often paired with verbs of consulting (visit, see, consult, hire) and with hedging language (claims to, says she can) because writers usually want to stay neutral about whether the powers are real.

Common Mistakes

I went to a clairvoyance yesterday.
I went to a clairvoyant yesterday.
the person is the clairvoyant; clairvoyance is the ability itself.
She is a clairvoyant who reads the future of stocks scientifically.
She is a financial analyst who predicts stock movements.
clairvoyant implies non-rational, mystical means, not data analysis.

clairvoyant — adjective

IPA/kleəˈvɔɪənt/
KK[klɛrvˈɔɪənt]IPA/klerˈvɔɪənt/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe knowledge or perception that goes beyond ordinary senses, but they differ in scope and tone. 'Psychic' is the broadest, everyday term covering anyone with claimed mental powers — predicting the future, reading minds, or sensing spirits. 'Clairvoyant' is narrower and slightly more literary: it stresses seeing — future events or things hidden in space — and often appears with nouns like vision, dream, or flash. 'Telepathic' is the most specific, limited to mind-to-mind communication between people. 'Prophetic' suggests a serious or weighty vision of the future, often with a religious or moral undertone, and is the only one comfortable with public, large-scale predictions: a prophetic warning about a nation's fate sounds natural, while a clairvoyant warning sounds more personal. Compare: a psychic gives readings at a fair; a clairvoyant senses a relative is in danger; a telepathic twin finishes her sister's sentences; a prophetic dream foretells a kingdom's fall.

clairvoyant ↗psychic ↗telepathic ↗prophetic

Common collocations

Nouns

  • clairvoyant powers
  • clairvoyant abilities
  • clairvoyant vision
  • clairvoyant dream
  • famous clairvoyant
  • self-proclaimed clairvoyant

Adverbs

  • supposedly clairvoyant
  • genuinely clairvoyant

Phrases

  • consult a clairvoyant
  • visit a clairvoyant
  • claim to be clairvoyant

Prepositions

  • clairvoyant about (the future)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchFrenchEnglish

Borrowed from French in the late 1600s, where 'clair' means clear and 'voyant' is the present participle of 'voir' (to see). Originally describing someone with sharp insight or keen judgement, the word narrowed during the 1800s spiritualist boom to its modern sense of seeing what ordinary senses cannot reach. The noun use (a person who claims this power) grew out of the adjective during the same period.