train of thought

noun

The flow of thinking; a sequence of ideas passing through someone’s mind.

“Near-synonym: thought process”

Similar
chain of thoughtline of thoughtthought paththread of thoughtthought processthread
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Meanings

nountrain of thought (plural trains of thought)

plural trains of thought · alternative train of thinking · alternative train of thoughts

  1. The flow of thinking; a sequence of ideas passing through someone’s mind.

    Near-synonym: thought process

    1 more example

    Did Mr. Winter Wonderland / Say, "Come 'ere, kid, we really need to talk"? / Bear with me, man, I lost my train of thought

    2018, Alex Turner, “One Point Perspective”, in Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, performed by Arctic Monkeys

    Synonyms: chain of thought, line of thought, thought path, thread of thought, thought process

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe flow of thinking; a sequence of ideas passing through someone’s mind.

Similar
chain of thoughtline of thoughtthought paththread of thoughtthought process

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe connections that link the various parts of an event or argument together

Similar
thread
Broader
thinkingthoughtthought process
Also see
chain of thoughtthread

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Bulgarian ред на мисли
  • ред на мисли (red na misli)flow of thinking
Catalan curs dels pensaments
  • curs dels pensamentsflow of thinking
Chinese Mandarin 思路
  • 思路 (sīlù)flow of thinking
Danish tankegang
  • tankegangflow of thinking
Dutch gedachtegang
  • gedachtegangflow of thinking
Esperanto pensfadeno
  • pensfadenoflow of thinking
Finnish ajatuskulku
  • ajatuskulkuflow of thinking
French raisonnement, flux de pensée
  • raisonnementflow of thinking
  • flux de penséeflow of thinking
German Gedankengang
  • Gedankengangflow of thinking
Hebrew חוּט מַחְשָׁבָה
  • חוּט מַחְשָׁבָה (ẖut maẖshavá)flow of thinking
Hungarian gondolatmenet
  • gondolatmenetflow of thinking
Italian filo del ragionamento
  • filo del ragionamentoflow of thinking
Norwegian Bokmål tankegang
  • tankegangflow of thinking
Polish tok myślenia
  • tok myśleniaflow of thinking
Portuguese fio da meada
  • fio da meadaflow of thinking
Russian ход мы́слей
  • ход мы́слей (xod mýslej)flow of thinking
Spanish tren de pensamiento, ilación
  • tren de pensamientoflow of thinking
  • ilaciónflow of thinking
  • congruenciaflow of thinking
  • congruidadflow of thinking
Swedish tankegång
  • tankegångflow of thinking
Ukrainian хід думок
  • хід думок (xid dumok)flow of thinking
Cite this entry
APA

train of thought. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/train%20of%20thought

MLA

“train of thought.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/train%20of%20thought. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “train of thought,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/train%20of%20thought.

Source: train of thought on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.