stream of consciousness

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noun
  1. Psychology. thought regarded as a succession of ideas and images constantly moving forward in time.

Origin of stream of consciousness

1
First recorded in 1885–90

Words Nearby stream of consciousness

Other definitions for stream-of-consciousness (2 of 2)

stream-of-consciousness
[ streem-uhv-kon-shuhs-nis ]

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like: a stream-of-consciousness novel; a stream-of-consciousness technique.

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How to use stream of consciousness in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for stream of consciousness

stream of consciousness

noun
  1. psychol the continuous flow of ideas, thoughts, and feelings forming the content of an individual's consciousness. The term was originated by William James

    • a literary technique that reveals the flow of thoughts and feelings of characters through long passages of soliloquy

    • (as modifier): a stream-of-consciousness novel

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for stream of consciousness

stream of consciousness

A kind of writing that presents the thoughts of a person or character as they occur. Stream-of-consciousness writing uses devices such as characters speaking to themselves, free association, and lists of words. William Faulkner, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf wrote stream-of-consciousness novels.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.