thought
1 Americannoun
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thoughts
plural
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the product of mental activity; that which one thinks.
a body of thought.
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a single act or product of thinking; idea or notion.
to collect one's thoughts.
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the act or process of thinking; mental activity.
Thought as well as action wearies us.
- Synonyms:
- cogitation, reflection, deliberation, rumination, meditation
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the capacity or faculty of thinking, reasoning, imagining, etc..
All her thought went into her work.
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a consideration or reflection.
Thought of death terrified her.
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meditation, contemplation, or recollection.
deep in thought.
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intention, design, or purpose, especially a half-formed or imperfect intention.
We had some thought of going.
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anticipation or expectation.
I had no thought of seeing you here.
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consideration, attention, care, or regard.
She took no thought of her appearance.
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a judgment, opinion, or belief.
According to his thought, all violence is evil.
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the intellectual activity or the ideas, opinions, etc., characteristic of a particular place, class, or time.
Greek thought.
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a very small amount; a touch; bit; trifle.
The steak is a thought underdone.
verb
verb
noun
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the act or process of thinking; deliberation, meditation, or reflection
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a concept, opinion, or idea
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philosophical or intellectual ideas typical of a particular time or place
German thought in the 19th century
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application of mental attention; consideration
he gave the matter some thought
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purpose or intention
I have no thought of giving up
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expectation
no thought of reward
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a small amount; trifle
you could be a thought more enthusiastic
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kindness or regard
he has no thought for his widowed mother
Usage
Spelling tips for thought The word thought is hard to spell because it sounds as if it should be spelled [ thawt ]. The combination of letters -ought can be pronounced many different ways (nine to be exact!). How to spell thought: Thinking is hard work. It might make you go "oh! ugh!" (-ough). Add a t to the end and you get thought.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thought
First recorded before 900; Middle English thoght, Old English (ge)thōht; cognate with Dutch gedachte; akin to thank, think 1
Explanation
Thought is the process of using your mind to consider something. It can also be the product of that process: an idea or just the thing you're thinking about. Thought can also refer to the organized beliefs of a period, individual, or group. If you're writing an essay about the Reformation, you'll probably want to summarize early Catholic thought regarding free will and predestination. This word can also be used to describe a personal belief or judgment you can't prove or be entirely certain of.
Vocabulary lists containing 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.
See Examples For:
“I was using Riefenstahl to point out, or so I thought, that these heroes and heroines were straight out of Nazi propaganda,” Verhoeven told The Guardian in 2018.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has also expressed concerns about the police investigation, saying he'd been outside the home where Fortune was thought to have lived multiple times and has never seen officers.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“But if it can be thought of as an accelerator to the human workforce, it means timelines shrink, output increases and thus the bottom line can grow with the current investment of human capital.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Our data indicate that the most significant collisional events between Central and South America occurred earlier than we previously thought, mainly during the Oligocene-middle Miocene," explain Piedrahita and Li.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
Not because I thought I would magically change; I already knew the secret.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Inside government and out, people were forced to think thoughts they’d never entertained before: Are my kids safe?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Last week, we asked for your thoughts on prenups.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
“It’s tragic. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers are with the two that were lost and the families,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Tell us your thoughts using the comments form at the bottom of this page.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
The next second I caught sight of Elliot again, and all thoughts of smiling disappeared.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
