mindset
Americannoun
-
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.
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.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast after the penultimate round of fixtures in May, Keane questioned Fernandes' mindset and described him as being at the centre of a "circus act".
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
"The traditional DNA is gritty, tight rugby. We still have that, but we have tried to add an attacking mindset to that."
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
We talk about the open-heart mindset, which is warmth and kindness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
This odd mindset was there for other people observing Silicon Valley at the time to see — but no one seemed to notice, or at least not enough to speak out.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
Yet when language scholars try to debunk the spurious rules, the dichotomizing mindset imagines that they are trying to abolish all standards of good writing.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
