broodings
Heavy, anxious thoughts
Broodings are dark, persistent thoughts or worries that someone dwells on.
The word suggests prolonged, troubled contemplation—the mental activity of someone who broods: His late-night broodings about mortality kept him awake.
The term carries a sense of heaviness, often implying thoughts tinged with melancholy or anxiety.
Prolonged, repetitive thinking
- meditationFocused attention practice
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- musingReflective contemplation
cogitation · deliberation · dwelling · preoccupation · absorption · introspection · soul-searching · self-examination
Deep emotional distress
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
- woeGreat sorrow or distress
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
misery · sadness · dejection · mournfulness · heaviness · bleakness · somberness · melancholia
rumination
Prolonged, repetitive thinking
- meditationFocused attention practice
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
musing · cogitation · deliberation · dwelling · preoccupation · absorption · introspection · soul-searching · self-examination · self-reflection
sorrow
Deep emotional distress
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
- woeGreat sorrow or distress
heartache · misery · sadness · dejection · mournfulness · heaviness · bleakness · somberness · melancholia · tristesse
nesting
Making a dwelling
clutch · eggs · hen · nurturing · mothering · incubator · chicks · fowl · poultry · hatchery
broodingslightheartedness
Cheerful lack of worry
nonchalance · letting go · moving on · dismissiveness · forgetfulness
broodingspeace of mind
State without anxiety
lightheartedness · insouciance · mental clarity · equanimity · serenity
- brooding heroAngsty, introspective main character