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Is there an adjective to describe someone with the ability to quickly grasp/see the whole picture out of a few perceived details. This person is not detail-oriented and never fails to see the forest for the trees. Gestalt effect comes close to what I mean but I'm looking for an adjective.

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  • For gestalt, the OED has derivatives only gestaltism and gestaltist. It has no adjective like gestaltic. But you could probably use that and be understood.
    – GEdgar
    Jan 26, 2015 at 15:41
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    Perhaps perspicacious? Jan 26, 2015 at 15:42
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    'Visionary' would overlap with this, but it's an overworked word. 'Perceptive', 'discerning' and 'far-sighted' are synonyms. Jan 26, 2015 at 15:42
  • @GEdgar gestaltic is good but I'm looking for a word that is not scientific.
    – user15851
    Jan 26, 2015 at 15:48
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    broad-visioned
    – ermanen
    Jan 26, 2015 at 15:58

3 Answers 3

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If your point is to contrast details with the whole picture I'd suggest

holistic

This probably needs to be explicitly combined with "perception" to get the point across.

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    Holistic can't describe a person.
    – user15851
    Jan 26, 2015 at 15:50
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You could describe him or her as a "big-picture thinker" or a "big-picture person."

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  • I'm looking for a single word.
    – user15851
    Jan 26, 2015 at 15:54
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One word that describes the ability to grasp and understand the entire situation is "grok" taken from Heinleins "Stranger in a strange land"

One who groks a problem or situation understands it deeply, all the way doen to the sub-atomic level.

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  • OP definitely wants an adjective and grok's a verb.
    – tmgr
    Jan 22, 2019 at 22:41
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    @tmgr 'grokalicious'?
    – Mitch
    Jan 22, 2019 at 23:29
  • @Mitch If you're a Turtle, maybe... in which case, Mitchelangelo? Otherwise I'd go grokky, seeing you're asking!
    – tmgr
    Jan 22, 2019 at 23:50

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