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Prospect vs Outlook vs Anticipation vs Foretaste

Prospect, outlookanticipationforetaste are comparable when they mean an advance realization of something to come, especially of something foreseen or expected.

Prospect and outlook both imply a conjuring up of a picture or mental vision of what the future, usually the near future, holds in store.

Prospect is chiefly applied to particular events or situations, especially to those of interest to one as an individual and evocative of an emotional response.

Outlook suggests an attempt to forecast the future from the point of view of an intellectual (as an economist or a philosopher) or from that of a practical man (as a politician or businessman) who is concerned not only with immediate but remote possibilities, and who demands accuracy in detail and soundness in conclusions.

Anticipation usually implies a prospect or outlook, but in addition it involves the implication of advance suffering or enjoyment of what is envisioned.

Foretaste also implies advance experience or prior enjoyment or suffering, but it does not necessarily connote, as does anticipation, a mental as distinguished from an actual experience. It implies sufficient experience to give one a hint of what is to come, but the experience, or taste, may be actual enjoyment or suffering or a fleeting but poignant anticipation of it.