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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of thinker
First recorded in 1400–50, thinker is from the late Middle English word thenkare. See think 1, -er 1
Explanation
A thinker is just what it sounds like — a person who does a lot of thinking. If you're a thinker, it may take you a while to make an important decision. You can use the noun thinker when you talk about a smart, scholarly person who's known for being an intellectual, or to describe someone who contemplates every choice at great length. Serious students are thinkers, and so are little kids who mull things over carefully, such as deciding which kind of doughnut to choose. Perhaps the most famous thinker is Auguste Rodin's bronze statue "The Thinker," which shows a man sitting, chin in hand, deep in thought.
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.
What I try to instill instead is an intrinsic desire to grow as a thinker.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
The split you have now means you’re a flexible thinker, and that will help you juggle all the priorities involved here.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 29, 2026
“He is the most long-term thinker I’ve ever been around,” says Kevin Demoff, president of team operations for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, his umbrella company.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Influential iconoclastic thinker Richard Dawkins was then pilloried for suggesting that perhaps it already has.
From Slate • May 25, 2026
He was a simple man; he was not a thinker, but he realized the essential as well as Gotama.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
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.
