What's a word for someone who always thinks about the consequences before making a decision?
Learn English – Word for someone who always uses their head before making a decision
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The Cambridge English Dictionary defines far-sighted as
having good judgment about what will be needed in the future and making wise decisions based on this:
Buying those shares was a very far-sighted move – they must be worth ten times their original value now.
They label this a “UK” definition, but I disagree. I’m a US person, and I believe that this meaning would be well understood here. Note that these definitions of farsighted (incidentally, not hyphenated):
able to predict what will or might happen in the future
wise, as in foreseeing future developments: a farsighted statesman.
carry no geographic restriction.
Forward-looking has a similar meaning:
concerned with the future or planning for the future
planning for or anticipating possible future events, conditions, etc.; progressive.
Words such as wise, sensible, sage, sagacious, and perspicacious are listed as synonyms for the above:
perspicacious:
Cambridge English Dictionary:
quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately:
His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.
having or showing an ability to notice and understand things that are difficult or not obvious
Other suggested synonyms include intuitive, prophetic, and psychic, but I guess these are not what you want (with the possible exception of intuitive).
Footnote:
A more literal definition of farsighted,
which is frequently listed as the primary definition
(especially when it is not hyphenated), is:
- long-sighted
- able to see things clearly that are far away but not things that are near you:
I’m so far-sighted, I can’t read the newspaper without my glasses.
- seeing objects at a distance more clearly than those near at hand; hyperopic.
- seeing to a great distance.
The antonym of this sense of farsighted is nearsighted:
unable to see things that are far away : able to see things that are close more clearly than things that are far away
while the antonym of the first sense is shortsighted:
not considering what will or might happen in the future; lacking foresight
although some people use these terms interchangeably. (Both of these words (especially shortsighted) can be hyphenated.)
How about consensus?
1) An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole
2) general agreement or accord
A consensus refers to a collective or group opinion, which seems to be what you're looking for - that the decision in question is often held by individuals, or else that people generally agree to the opinion once articulated.
It hopefully doesn't have the same baggage as "democratic" - I'm actually not sure what baggage you're running across with the word, but I'm sort of guessing the problem is something like democracy as "electing a single authority to have the power or make the decision", not democracy as "propose possibilities then everybody directly vote on the alternative solutions".
Uses might include "government by consensus", or "reached an agreement through consensus", or "used a consensus system to make the decision fair".
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Or else perhaps concurrence
- Agreement in opinion.
- Cooperation, as of agents, circumstances, or events.
- Simultaneous occurrence; coincidence.
"They reached an agreement by concurrence" or "their system of concurrence means their decisions are mutually acceptable" or something like that. It's a bit less easily used than consensus, in my opinion, takes a bit more thinking to fit into sentences, but it may work for what you need it to be.
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You might also like accord, though it's a bit clunkier
- agreement; conformity; accordance (esp in the phrase in accord with)
- consent or concurrence of opinion
- with one accord unanimously
- a settlement of differences, as between nations; compromise
- to be or cause to be in harmony or agreement
This would be used like "they reached an accord" to make a decision, or "they were in accord with each other" about their system.
Best Answer
Prudent seems quite close to me.