ruminate
Chew on mentally
To ruminate is to think deeply about something, turning it over in the mind repeatedly: She ruminated on what might have been.
The word comes from the literal sense of chewing cud—cattle and other ruminants regurgitate food to chew it again.
The figurative sense captures that same quality of returning to something already processed.
Rumination can be productive reflection or unproductive dwelling: He spent weeks ruminating over the rejection.
Rechewed stomach contents
- chewGrind with teeth
- regurgitateExpel swallowed matter
- masticateCrush food orally
- bovineOf the cattle family
cow · cattle · sheep · goat · deer · antelope · buffalo · bison
Think deeply about
- museThink deeply about
- reflectReturn light or thought
- cogitateTo reflect deeply
- meditateQuiet mental focus
brood · dwell · think · consider · mull · deliberate · philosophize · introspect
Hatchlings as a group
overthink · fret · stew · agonize · spiral · replay · rehash · catastrophize
Awareness of the present
- zenMeditative calm
- stillnessComplete lack of motion
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- quiet reflectionSilent, thoughtful self-examination
serenity · presence · awareness · centering · inner peace · solitude · tranquility · equanimity
cud
Rechewed stomach contents
- chewGrind with teeth
- regurgitateExpel swallowed matter
- masticateCrush food orally
bovine · cow · cattle · sheep · goat · deer · antelope · buffalo · bison · herbivore
ponder
Think deeply about
meditate · brood · dwell · think · consider · mull · deliberate · philosophize · introspect · speculate
brood
Hatchlings as a group
fixate · overthink · fret · stew · agonize · spiral · replay · rehash · catastrophize · perseverate
mindfulness
Awareness of the present
- zenMeditative calm
- stillnessComplete lack of motion
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
quiet reflection · serenity · presence · awareness · centering · inner peace · solitude · tranquility · equanimity · breathing
- mental processesthinking, think, reasoning, cognition, pondering
- deliberationdeliberation, consideration, ponder, contemplate, weighing
- mouth actionsbite, biting, chewing, chew, swallowing
- chew overchew, mull over, ponder, contemplate, consider
- Soul-searchingcontemplate, reflect, meditate, ponder, muse
- psychobabbletriggered, gaslighting, toxic, trauma bond, narcissist
ruminatejump to conclusions
Judge before full understanding
shoot from the hip · rush to judgment · wing it · blurt out · skim
rumination, ruminant, ruminating, ruminative, ruminants, ruminator, ruminations, ruminated, ruminators