stream of consciousness

¹

noun

1. Psychology. thought regarded as a succession of ideas and images constantly moving forward in time.
2. interior monologue.

stream-of-consciousness

²

[ streem-uhv-kon-shuhs-nis ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like:

   a stream-of-consciousness novel; a stream-of-consciousness technique.

stream of consciousness

noun

1. psychol the continuous flow of ideas, thoughts, and feelings forming the content of an individual's consciousness. The term was originated by William James
2. 1. a literary technique that reveals the flow of thoughts and feelings of characters through long passages of soliloquy
   2. ( as modifier )

      a stream-of-consciousness novel

stream of consciousness

1. A kind of writing that presents the thoughts of a person or character as they occur. Stream-of-consciousness writing uses devices such as characters speaking to themselves, free association, and lists of words. William Faulkner , James Joyce , and Virginia Woolf wrote stream-of-consciousness novels .

Word History and Origins

Origin of stream of consciousness¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

I didn’t know what was gonna happen — whatever it was, it was stream of consciousness.

From Los Angeles Times

“That tendency to ramble, to elaborate on stream of consciousness and to brag shamelessly — all of those things have become much stronger, and much less coherent than in 2016 and 2020,” Rowland said.

From Los Angeles Times

His sales pitch for Trump Bible where he meanders into stream of consciousness suggests he may be delusional.

From Salon

Born and raised in Dublin, Liam Cunningham speaks in Joycean streams of consciousness that often have no discernible beginning, middle or end.

From New York Times

“It was an amazing stream of consciousness,” Spencer adds.

From Los Angeles Times