Word.ws English Dictionary

sees the forest for the trees

sees the forest for the trees is the third-person singular simple present indicative of see the forest for the trees.

Meaning of see the forest for the trees

Verb

see the forest for the trees (third-person singular simple present sees the forest for the trees, present participle seeing the forest for the trees, simple past saw the forest for the trees, past participle seen the forest for the trees)

  1. (idiomatic) To discern an overall pattern from a mass of detail; to see the big picture, or the broader, more general situation.
    • Smith is good at detail, but can't see the forest for the trees.

Questions about sees the forest for the trees

What is sees the forest for the trees the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Sees the forest for the trees is the third-person singular simple present indicative of see the forest for the trees.

Words near sees the forest for the trees in the dictionary

  1. sees the back of
  2. sees the dark side of the moon
  3. sees the day
  4. sees the elephant
  5. sees the error of one's ways
  6. sees the forest for the trees
  7. sees the glass half-empty
  8. sees the glass half-full
  9. sees the last of
  10. sees the light
  11. sees the light of day

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sees the forest for the trees (page history and authors); see the forest for the trees (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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