Prescient

adj.thoughtful, capableformal

What it means

Showing accurate awareness of an important development before it becomes apparent.

Reach for it when praising unusually accurate foresight only when later events support the claim

Her prescient warning about the bridge joints led to an inspection before the floods.

playful
ahead of the curve
when early insight confers a practical advantage
not when The business idiom is casual and may celebrate trendiness rather than accuracy.
playful
clairvoyant
when impossible-seeming accuracy is described humorously
not when It literally suggests supernatural perception and is unsuitable for evidence-based praise.
warm
far-sighted
when planning wisely for long-term consequences matters
not when Foresight can guide prudent preparation without predicting a specific event.
professional
anticipatory
when action is taken ahead of an expected need
not when Anticipation need not be accurate enough to count as prescience.
professional
forward-looking
when attention is deliberately placed on future conditions
not when A forward-looking plan can still forecast badly.
formal
foresighted
when anticipating future needs shapes action
not when The uncommon word concerns planning more than accurate foreknowledge.
literary
prophetic
when a statement seems strikingly fulfilled by later events
not when It can imply supernatural or religious authority and is usually retrospective.

prescient warning
The prescient warning identified the drainage risk before construction began.
prescient observation
His prescient observation about remote work shaped the later redesign.
prove prescient
The early investment in shade trees would prove prescient during hotter summers.

Prescient is retrospective praise. Do not use it for a forecast whose accuracy has not yet been tested by events.

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.