inner dialogue
Voice in head
Inner dialogue is the ongoing conversation you have with yourself inside your head—the voice that narrates, questions, debates, and comments on your experiences as you move through life.
It encompasses self-talk, mental rehearsals of conversations, and the way you process decisions or emotions privately.
My inner dialogue kept second-guessing the choice I'd made.
Psychologists and writers both use the term, though in fiction it's more often called internal monologue.
- self-talkSpeaking to oneself mentally
- self-awarenessInsight into one's psyche
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- quiet reflectionSilent, thoughtful self-examination
- reflectionReturned light or thought
rumination · soul-searching · reasoning · thinking out loud · metacognition · soliloquy · self-soothing · contemplation · self-perception · existential questioning · authenticity · emotional processing · self-examination · mindfulness · self-discovery · identity formation · imagination · head space
- mindmind, thought, cognition, consciousness, thinking
- contemplationcontemplation, meditation, reflection, pondering, musing
- dialogotalk, chat, discussion, debate, exchange
- inner thoughtsself-talk, thoughts, thinking, thought, reflection
- introspectionself-examination, self-reflection, self-awareness, self-analysis, introspection
- self-reflectionjournaling, self-reflection, self-awareness, introspection, self-examination
inner dialoguespoken words
speech · vocalization · verbal expression · out loud · spoken communication
inner dialogueconversation
Exchange of spoken ideas
discussion · verbal interaction · discourse · debate · two-way communication