cogitate

American  

[koj-i-teyt] / ˈkɒdʒ ɪˌteɪt /

verb (used without object)

cogitated, cogitating

1. to think hard; ponder; meditate.

   to cogitate about a problem.

   Synonyms:

   reflect, deliberate

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verb (used with object)

cogitated, cogitating

1. to think about; devise.

   to cogitate a scheme.

   Synonyms:

   weigh

cogitate British  

/ ˈkɒdʒɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. to think deeply about (a problem, possibility, etc); ponder

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Other Word Forms

• cogitatingly adverb
• cogitation noun
• cogitator noun
• precogitate verb

Etymology

Origin of cogitate

1555–65; < Latin cōgitātus (past participle of cōgitāre ), equivalent to co- co- + agitātus; see agitate

Explanation

To cogitate is a fancy way of saying to think hard about. If you spend a lot of time figuring out exactly how your French teacher does her hair, you are cogitating in order to avoid conjugating. Cogitate can be used both transitively or intransitively, which means you can cogitate on something, like your history project or why your computer never seems to work the way you want it to. Or you can simply sit in your room and cogitate.

Example Sentences

This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by Wesley Morris, critic at large for The New York Times and co-host of the Still Processing podcast, to cogitate on Conundrums 2023.

From Slate • Dec. 28, 2023

It’s one thing to cogitate and empathize with national shame and collective culpability, but it’s another thing entirely to grow up with it, to have it tattooed on your DNA.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2023

"They will go over and over their thoughts, ruminate and cogitate sometimes for weeks and months," he says.

From BBC • Sep. 21, 2022

Here Berggruen plans to construct what he half-jokingly describes as a “secular monastery,” a campus where scholars affiliated with the think tank that he founded, the Berggruen Institute, will live, work, cogitate.

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2022

The old bitterness came up in him and he did not have time to cogitate and push it down.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers