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Suffix · forms adjectives

-sighted

Describes eyesight or the ability to anticipate the future: farsighted (able to see the bigger picture; also long-sighted) versus shortsighted (lacking foresight; also nearsighted).

In Spanish: de vista / de visiónLiterary

Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated August 2026

What this suffix does

-sighted forms compound adjectives that describe both physical vision (the ability to see at certain distances) and the figurative capacity to see ahead in time or to perceive consequences. Shortsighted, farsighted, and nearsighted cover the physical spectrum; but farsighted, shortsighted, and clear-sighted also describe whether a person, policy, or plan can anticipate the future wisely. This double register — literal eye function and metaphorical intellectual vision — makes -sighted one of the most versatile and expressive compound elements in English.

How it is formed

Adjective + sighted.

  • far + sighted
    farsighted (able to see the bigger picture / long-sighted)
  • short + sighted
    shortsighted (lacking foresight / nearsighted)
  • clear + sighted
    clear-sighted (perceptive, clear-thinking)

This is not a productive rule you can apply freely: it is a closed set of fixed expressions. Learn them one by one as set phrases.

How it is pronounced

-sighted

Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.

Examples

Base word
With -sighted
In a phrase
  • farfarsightedThe company's farsighted CEO invested early in new technology.
  • shortshortsightedCutting the education budget was a shortsighted decision.
  • clearclear-sightedShe gave a clear-sighted view of the risks involved.
  • nearnearsightedHe's nearsighted, so he wears glasses to drive.
  • longlong-sightedMy grandmother is long-sighted and needs reading glasses.

Common mistakes

farsighted = always positive; shortsighted = always negative
both describe the range of vision, literal or figurative — context determines the value

"Farsighted" in a medical context simply means able to see distant objects clearly but struggling at close range. In figurative use it is almost always positive (the farsighted leader, the farsighted policy). "Shortsighted" in medical use means the opposite. In figurative use it is almost always negative (a shortsighted decision, a shortsighted approach). These figurative charges are so strong they have become close to fixed idioms.

"clear-sighted" = having good eyesight
"clear-sighted" = thinking clearly and realistically, without illusions

"Clear-sighted" is almost exclusively figurative. It means perceiving the real situation without wishful thinking, self-deception, or emotional distortion. It suggests both intellectual honesty and courage: a clear-sighted assessment is one that says what is actually true rather than what is comfortable.

A trick to remember it

The power of -sighted compounds is that they collapse a complex judgment about foresight into a single word. Saying a policy is "shortsighted" implies it fails to see consequences that should have been visible; saying a leader is "farsighted" implies a rare capacity to see further and more accurately than others. In journalism and politics these words do enormous work — they encode an entire assessment of intelligence and responsibility in one compound.

Practise what you learned

Exercise 1 · Form the word

Fill in: "The ___ energy plan ignored renewable alternatives that would become standard within fifteen years." (unable to see or plan beyond the immediate moment)

Hint: Short + sighted = only able to see what is immediately in front.

Exercise 2 · Pick the right one

"She was clear-sighted about the merger's risks even as her colleagues celebrated." What does "clear-sighted" mean here?

Exercise 3 · Form the word

Fill in: "The ___ investor saw potential in markets that most analysts dismissed as insignificant." (able to see value or opportunity far in the future)

Hint: Far + sighted = able to see what is far away — in time or consequence.

Frequently asked questions

What does the suffix -sighted mean in English?

The suffix -sighted describes eyesight or the ability to anticipate the future: farsighted (able to see the bigger picture; also long-sighted) versus shortsighted (lacking foresight; also nearsighted). In Spanish it usually maps to de vista / de visión.

Can you give an example of a word with -sighted?

"far" becomes "farsighted". It is a typical example of the -sighted suffix.

Other useful suffixes

  • -eyed

    Describes what someone's eyes are like, or how they see the world: wide-eyed (eyes wide open, naive) and eagle-eyed (sharp-sighted, observant).

  • -headed

    having a specified type of mental clarity, character, or state of mind

  • -minded

    Describes someone's way of thinking: open-minded (accepting of new ideas) versus narrow-minded (closed off, intolerant).

Learn every English suffix

-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.

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