thinker

English edit

The Thinker, Rodin

Etymology edit

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”).

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈθɪŋ.kə(ɹ)/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈθɪŋ.kɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪŋkə(ɹ)

Noun edit

thinker (plural thinkers)

One who spends time thinking, contemplating or meditating.
- 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:
  The doer and the thinker
  No allowance for the other.
An intellectual, such as a philosopher or theologian.
(slang) The brain; the mind.
- 2011, Arthur Kornhaber, Rosie's Miracle: A Novel, page 271:
  "Well, I tried to do like you and grandfather say; don't use my thinker, use imagination."
(slang) A poser; a conundrum that requires some thinking.
- 1997, "How to Fire a Rifle Without Really Trying" (King of the Hill TV series, season 2 episode 1)
  HANK: The NRA is a Washington D.C. based organization. Are you telling me you support Washington D.C.?
  DALE: That's a thinker.

Derived terms edit

freethinker

Collocations edit

Collocations

Adjectives often applied to "thinker": creative, deep, critical, great, strategic, original, political, clear, social, brilliant, logical, liberal, conservative, influential, lateral, radical, religious, profound, abstract.

Translations edit

one who spends time thinking

Arabic: مُفَكِّر (ar) m (mufakkir)
Armenian: մտածող (hy) (mtacoġ)
Azerbaijani: mütəfəkkir
Belarusian: мыслі́цель m (myslícjelʹ), мыслі́целька f (myslícjelʹka), мысьлі́цель m (mysʹlícjelʹ), мысьлі́целька f (mysʹlícjelʹka), мысля́р m (mysljár), мысля́рка f (mysljárka), мысьля́р m (mysʹljár), мысьля́рка f (mysʹljárka)
Bulgarian: мисли́тел (bg) m (mislítel), мисли́телка f (mislítelka)
Catalan: pensador (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 思想者 (sīxiǎngzhě)
Czech: myslitel (cs) m, myslitelka f
Danish: tænker (da) c
Dutch: denker (nl) m
Finnish: ajattelija (fi)
French: penseur (fr) m, penseuse (fr) f
Galician: pensador (gl) m, pensadora f
Georgian: მოფიქრალი (mopikrali), მოაზროვნე (moazrovne)
German: Denker (de) m, Denkerin (de) f
Hebrew: אָדָם חוֹשֵׁב m (adám khoshév)
Hungarian: gondolkodó (hu)
Indonesian: pemikir (id)
Italian: pensatore (it) m, pensatrice (it) f
Japanese: 思想家 (ja) (しそうか, shisōka)
Korean: 사상가(思想家) (ko) (sasangga)
Macedonian: мислител m (mislitel), мислителка f (mislitelka)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tenker (no) m

Nynorsk: tenkar m, tenkjar m
Polish: myśliciel (pl) m, myślicielka f
Portuguese: pensador m, pensadora f
Russian: мысли́тель (ru) m (myslítelʹ), мысли́тельница (ru) f (myslítelʹnica)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мѝслилац m, мѝслитељ m

Roman: mìslilac (sh) m, mìslitelj (sh) m
Slovak: mysliteľ m, mysliteľka f
Slovene: mislec m
Spanish: pensador (es) m, pensadora (es) f
Swedish: tänkare (sv) c
Tocharian B: pälskauca
Ukrainian: мисли́тель m (myslýtelʹ), мисли́телька f (myslýtelʹka)
Uzbek: fikrlovchi (uz)
Yiddish: דענקער m (denker)

intellectual

Arabic: مُفَكِّر (ar) m (mufakkir)
Armenian: մտածող (hy) (mtacoġ)
Azerbaijani: mütəfəkkir
Belarusian: мыслі́цель m (myslícjelʹ), мыслі́целька f (myslícjelʹka), мысьлі́цель m (mysʹlícjelʹ), мысьлі́целька f (mysʹlícjelʹka), мысля́р m (mysljár), мысля́рка f (mysljárka), мысьля́р m (mysʹljár), мысьля́рка f (mysʹljárka)
Bulgarian: мисли́тел (bg) m (mislítel), мисли́телка f (mislítelka)
Catalan: pensador (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 思想家 (zh) (sīxiǎngjiā)
Czech: myslitel (cs) m, myslitelka f
Danish: tænker (da) c
Dutch: denker (nl) m, intellectueel (nl) m or f
Estonian: mõtleja
Finnish: ajattelija (fi), intellektuelli (fi)
French: penseur (fr) m, penseuse (fr) f, intellectuel (fr) m, intellectuelle (fr) f
Georgian: მოაზროვნე (moazrovne), ინტელექტუალი (inṭelekṭuali)
German: Denker (de) m, Denkerin (de) f
Hindi: विचारक (hi) m (vicārak)
Icelandic: hugsuður m
Italian: pensatore (it) m, pensatrice (it) f, intellettuale (it) m or f
Japanese: 思想家 (ja) (しそうか, shisōka)
Kazakh: ойлаушы (kk) (oilauşy), ойшыл (kk) (oişyl)
Khmer: ចិន្តបណ្ឌិត (centaʼbɑndɨt)
Korean: 사상가(思想家) (ko) (sasangga)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: ramanvan (ku) m or f, mifekir m or f
Kyrgyz: ойчул (ky) (oycul)
Lao: ນັກຄິດ (nak khit)
Latvian: domātājs m
Lithuanian: mąstytojas (lt) m
Macedonian: мислител m (mislitel), мислителка f (mislitelka)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tenker (no) m

Nynorsk: tenkar m, tenkjar m
Pashto: متفکر m (motafaker), مفکر m (mofaker)
Persian: متفکر (fa) (motafakker), اندیشمند (fa) (andišmand), مفکر (fa) (mofakker)
Polish: myśliciel (pl) m, myślicielka f, intelektualista (pl) m, intelektualistka (pl) f
Portuguese: intelectual (pt) m or f, pensador m, pensadora f
Romanian: intelectual (ro) m, intelectuală (ro) f, gânditor (ro) m, gânditoare (ro) f
Russian: мысли́тель (ru) m (myslítelʹ), мысли́тельница (ru) f (myslítelʹnica), интеллектуа́л (ru) m (intellektuál), интеллектуа́лка (ru) f (intellektuálka)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мѝслилац m, мѝслитељ m

Roman: mìslilac (sh) m, mìslitelj (sh) m
Slovak: mysliteľ m, mysliteľka f
Slovene: mislec m
Spanish: pensador (es) m, pensadora (es) f
Swedish: tänkare (sv) c
Tagalog: palaisip
Tajik: мутафаккир (mutafakkir)
Thai: นักคิด (nák-kít)
Tocharian B: pälskauca
Turkish: düşünür (tr), düşünücü (tr), mütefekkir (tr)
Ukrainian: мисли́тель m (myslýtelʹ), мисли́телька f (myslýtelʹka)
Uyghur: مۇتەپەككۇر (mutepekkur)
Uzbek: mutafakkir (uz)
Vietnamese: nhà tư tưởng (vi)
Yiddish: דענקער m (denker)

Anagrams edit

rethink