thinking

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noun

1 using your mind to think

ADJECTIVE

▪ deep, hard, serious

▪

This topic requires a lot of deep thinking.

▪ good

▪

Yes, I'll email her instead—that's good thinking (= a good idea).

▪ clear, logical, rational

▪ muddled (esp. BrE)

▪ quick

▪ forward

▪

The school would have made better use of the money with a little forward thinking.

▪ positive

▪ abstract, analytical, critical

▪ creative, independent, innovative, original

▪ lateral

▪ wishful

▪

His claims to be a millionaire are just wishful thinking.

… OF THINKING

▪ piece (esp. BrE)

▪

a brilliant piece of lateral thinking

VERB + THINKING

▪ do

▪

We have some hard thinking to do before we agree to the plan.

▪ apply, use

▪

The book shows you how to apply critical thinking to your studies.

▪ encourage, promote, stimulate

▪

She believes in encouraging creative thinking in the classroom.

▪

We hope that her book will stimulate thinking about this subject.

PREPOSITION

▪ thinking behind

▪

It was difficult to see what the thinking was behind their eventual decision.

2 opinion

ADJECTIVE

▪ contemporary, current, modern

▪ fresh, new

▪ conventional, old, traditional

▪ divergent

▪ government (esp. BrE)

▪

The latest announcement marks a major shift in government thinking.

▪ Labour, Republican, etc.

▪ economic, historical, political, scientific, etc.

▪

Traditional educational thinking placed importance on learning by rote.

▪ feminist, socialist, etc.

▪ military, strategic

VERB + THINKING

▪ develop, influence, shape

▪ clarify, explain

▪ change

▪

They are unlikely to have changed their thinking so soon.

▪ dominate

▪

His writings on motorized warfare dominated strategic thinking in the 1930s.

PREPOSITION

▪ in … thinking

▪

contemporary trends in feminist thinking

▪ thinking about, thinking on

▪

What is the current party thinking on welfare benefits?

PHRASES

▪ a shift in sb's thinking

▪

There's been a shift in government thinking on genetically modified food.

▪ to sb's way of thinking (= in sb's opinion)

▪

To my way of thinking, it would just be a massive waste of money.

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adj.

Thinking is used with these nouns: ↑mind