thinking

[thing-king]

adjective

1. rational; reasoning.

   People are thinking animals.

2. thoughtful; reflective.

   Any thinking person would reject that plan.

noun

1. thought; think; thought; judgment, reflection.

   clear thinking.

thinking

/ ˈθɪŋkɪŋ /

noun

1. opinion or judgment

2. the process of thought

adjective

1. (prenominal) using or capable of using intelligent thought

   thinking people

2. to ponder a matter or problem

Other Word Forms

• thinkingly adverb
• nonthinking adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of thinking¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English thenking (noun); think ¹, -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

And he said he was not thinking about the fact that he was leading the championship for the first time since the fourth race of the season, unless other people brought it up with him.

Read more on BBC

“And I kept thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

With the stakes so high, maybe worries about approval ratings and elections should have played no part in the president’s thinking.

Read more on Literature

The thinking goes that investors chasing a small group of highflying tech stocks could see painful losses if those concentrated bets start to falter, as they did during April’s tariff chaos.

Read more on MarketWatch

She calls for creative thinking from writers and drinkers, and demonstrates the same with her prose.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• idea 
• judgment 
• logic 
• opinion 
• reasoning 
• understanding