mindset
Americannoun
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mindsets
plural
-
a fixed attitude, disposition, or mood.
His conservative mindset sometimes causes him to miss out on important opportunities.
Her judgmental mindset has cost her a number of friendships.
-
an intention or inclination.
I'm not sure what her mindset will be when you ask her about her plans.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mindset
First recorded in 1905–10; mind ( def. ) + set ( def. )
Compare meaning
How does mindset compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A person's usual attitude or mental state is his or her mindset. If you have an environmentalist mindset, you probably bring your own bags to the grocery store. Some examples of mindsets include an optimist's sunny perspective on life, a business owner's entrepreneurial way of thinking, or an Army general's military focus. Sometimes, a mindset spreads between people in a group and colors the entire group's outlook — psychologists call this groupthink. The noun mindset was first used in the 1930s to mean "habits of mind formed by previous experience."
Vocabulary lists containing mindset
"My Left Foot" and "Success Is a Mind-Set"
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"Mindsets in the Classroom"
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Everything We Never Had
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s the mindset Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now confronting as he faces an all-out trade war with Trump.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
“I’ve been very impressed with his mindset since he arrived,” said Galaxy coach Greg Vanney.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
It seemed more likely to Egan that the Betterment survey was catching the leading edge of a troubling mindset shift.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
In an enterprise telecom landscape that had long been characterized by a ‘playing not to lose’ mindset, she set out to create a culture of innovation, accountability and playing to win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
If you were born in the 1820s you were too old: your mindset was shaped by the pre-Civil War paradigm.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
The company apparently got ahead of demand for its brand in an effort to cater to investors’ growth mindsets, Moran said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
Zeesham Khan, 23, said he and his younger brother both knew people who had radically changed their mindsets after engaging with it.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
“The way consumers’ mindsets are right now, we’re still dealing with inflation, with negative consumer sentiment.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Well, concerns about AI overspending and hyperscaler capex feature prominently in investor mindsets as the No.1 tail risk and the most likely cause of a credit event.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 16, 2025
Tragedy offered moral lessons about leadership, justice and collective welfare, while comedy delivered irreverent critiques of politicians and popular mindsets.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2025
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
