state of mind

[steyt uhv mahynd]

idiom

1. a person’s mental or emotional condition, especially at a given point in time.

   Subtle touches like scratched-out mistakes and underlined words can give us insight into the author’s state of mind while she was writing.

   The state of mind or mental stability of the defendant also needs to be taken into consideration.

2. a general outlook on life, the world, the future, etc..

   Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.

   Marriage is a state of mind and a way of life.

Word History and Origins

Origin of state of mind¹

First recorded in 1630–40

Example Sentences

But the fact that he believed it tells us a lot about his state of mind in the summer of 1961.

Read more on Literature

And don’t underestimate the power of good music to improve their state of mind — the best gift of all.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This is in keeping with the show’s calling card of marrying high and low culinary traditions, transforming the concept of upscale into a state of mind.

Read more on Salon

The influential critic Edmund Wilson, who helped establish Hemingway’s literary reputation, perceptively stated “his prose is of the first distinction” and conveys “profound emotions and complex states of mind.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Written and directed by Scott Cooper from Warren Zanes’s 2023 book, the film sets out to capture two states of mind that are tricky to depict cinematically: depression and creativity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• disposition 
• mindset 
• mood 
• temperament