thinker

American  

[thing-ker] / ˈθɪŋ kər /

noun

1. a person who thinks, as in a specified way or manner.

   a slow thinker.

2. a person who has a well-developed faculty for thinking, as a philosopher, theorist, or scholar.

   the great thinkers.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonthinker
  noun

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

Influential iconoclastic thinker Richard Dawkins was then pilloried for suggesting that perhaps it already has.

From Slate • May 25, 2026

For more than 500 years, Leonardo da Vinci has been admired as a brilliant artist, inventor, and thinker whose talents seemed far ahead of his time.

From Science Daily • May 4, 2026

It’s a stalemate that even a clever strategist would struggle mightily to resolve, and there is no evidence that Vance is an especially strategic thinker.

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

Galthie, a deep thinker who reads philosophy and classical literature, has admitted he believes in an innate French characteristic, to fight hardest and best when pushed to the brink.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

I knew I would never be a thinker like my father, because I couldn’t sit that still.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

Related Words

• brain
• philosopher