Meanings
plural thinkers
- One who spends time thinking, contemplating or meditating.
The doer and the thinker No allowance for the other.
1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull - An intellectual, such as a philosopher or theologian.
1 more example
From his studies of these thinkers and activists, Mr. Obama took what he called the “Niebuhrian” lesson that we can have “a cleareyed view of the world and the realities of cruelty and sin and greed and violence, and yet, still maintain a sense of hope and possibility, as an act of will and leap of faith.”
2020 December 8, Michiko Kakutani, “Obama, the Best-Selling Author, on Reading, Writing and Radical Empathy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishthinkere
- Englishthinker
From Middle English thinkere, equivalent to think + -er. Compare West Frisian tinker (“thinker”), Dutch denker (“thinker”), German Denker (“thinker”), Danish tænker (“thinker”), Swedish tänkare (“thinker”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُفَكِّر, مُفَكِّر
- مُفَكِّر (mufakkir)one who spends time thinking
- مُفَكِّر (mufakkir)intellectual
Bulgarian мисли́тел, мисли́телка
- мисли́тел (mislítel)one who spends time thinking
- мисли́телка (mislítelka)one who spends time thinking
- мисли́тел (mislítel)intellectual
- мисли́телка (mislítelka)intellectual
Catalan pensador, pensador
- pensadorone who spends time thinking
- pensadorintellectual
Chinese Mandarin 思想者, 思想家
- 思想者 (sīxiǎngzhě)one who spends time thinking
- 思想家 (sīxiǎngjiā)intellectual
Czech myslitel, myslitelka
- myslitelone who spends time thinking
- myslitelkaone who spends time thinking
- myslitelintellectual
- myslitelkaintellectual
Danish tænker, tænker
- tænkerone who spends time thinking
- tænkerintellectual
Dutch denker, denker
- denkerone who spends time thinking
- denkerintellectual
- intellectueelintellectual
Estonian mõtleja
- mõtlejaintellectual
Finnish ajattelija, ajattelija
- ajattelijaone who spends time thinking
- ajattelijaintellectual
- intellektuelliintellectual
French penseur, penseuse
- penseurone who spends time thinking
- penseuseone who spends time thinking
- penseurintellectual
- penseuseintellectual
- intellectuelintellectual
- intellectuelleintellectual
German Denker, Denkerin
- Denkerone who spends time thinking
- Denkerinone who spends time thinking
- Denkerintellectual
- Denkerinintellectual
Hebrew אָדָם חוֹשֵׁב
- אָדָם חוֹשֵׁב (adám khoshév)one who spends time thinking
Hindi विचारक
- विचारक (vicārak)intellectual
Hungarian gondolkodó
- gondolkodóone who spends time thinking
Icelandic hugsuður
- hugsuðurintellectual
Indonesian pemikir
- pemikirone who spends time thinking
Italian pensatore, pensatrice
- pensatoreone who spends time thinking
- pensatriceone who spends time thinking
- pensatoreintellectual
- pensatriceintellectual
- intellettualeintellectual
Japanese 思想家, 思想家
- 思想家 (shisōka)one who spends time thinking
- 思想家 (shisōka)intellectual
Korean 사상가, 사상가
- 사상가 (sasangga)one who spends time thinking
- 사상가 (sasangga)intellectual
Latvian domātājs
- domātājsintellectual
Lithuanian mąstytojas
- mąstytojasintellectual
Malay pemikir, ahli fikir
- pemikirone who spends time thinking
- ahli fikirintellectual
- cendekiawanintellectual
- cendekiawatiintellectual
Norwegian Bokmål tenker, tenker
- tenkerone who spends time thinking
- tenkerintellectual
Persian متفکر, اندیشمند
- متفکر (motafakker)intellectual
- اندیشمند (andišmand)intellectual
- مفکر (mofakker)intellectual
Polish myśliciel, myślicielka
- myślicielone who spends time thinking
- myślicielkaone who spends time thinking
- myślicielintellectual
- myślicielkaintellectual
- intelektualistaintellectual
- intelektualistkaintellectual
Portuguese pensador, pensadora
- pensadorone who spends time thinking
- pensadoraone who spends time thinking
- intelectualintellectual
- pensadorintellectual
- pensadoraintellectual
Romanian intelectual, intelectuală
- intelectualintellectual
- intelectualăintellectual
- gânditorintellectual
- gânditoareintellectual
Russian мысли́тель, мысли́тельница
- мысли́тель (myslítelʹ)one who spends time thinking
- мысли́тельница (myslítelʹnica)one who spends time thinking
- мысли́тель (myslítelʹ)intellectual
- мысли́тельница (myslítelʹnica)intellectual
- интеллектуа́л (intellektuál)intellectual
- интеллектуа́лка (intellektuálka)intellectual
Slovak mysliteľ, mysliteľka
- mysliteľone who spends time thinking
- mysliteľkaone who spends time thinking
- mysliteľintellectual
- mysliteľkaintellectual
Spanish pensador, pensadora
- pensadorone who spends time thinking
- pensadoraone who spends time thinking
- pensadorintellectual
- pensadoraintellectual
Swahili mfikiriaji, mfikiriaji
- mfikiriajione who spends time thinking
- mfikiriajiintellectual
Swedish tänkare, tänkare
- tänkareone who spends time thinking
- tänkareintellectual
Tagalog palaisip
- palaisipintellectual
Thai นักคิด
- นักคิด (nák-kít)intellectual
Turkish düşünür, düşünücü
- düşünürintellectual
- düşünücüintellectual
- mütefekkirintellectual
Ukrainian мисли́тель, мисли́телька
- мисли́тель (myslýtelʹ)one who spends time thinking
- мисли́телька (myslýtelʹka)one who spends time thinking
- мисли́тель (myslýtelʹ)intellectual
- мисли́телька (myslýtelʹka)intellectual
Vietnamese nhà tư tưởng
- nhà tư tưởngintellectual
Yiddish דענקער, דענקער
- דענקער (denker)one who spends time thinking
- דענקער (denker)intellectual
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with thinker
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
thinker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thinker
“thinker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thinker. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thinker,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thinker.
Source: thinker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.