Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To engage in introspection.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To look into or within; view the inside of.
  • To practise introspection; look inward; consider one's own internal state or feelings.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To look into or within; to view the inside of.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To engage in introspection.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb reflect on one's own thoughts and feelings

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin intrōspicere, intrōspect-, to look into : intrō-, within; see en in Indo-European roots + specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • Dretske (2003) endorses a radical version of it: that we cannot introspect anything about a perceptual experience, if "introspect" has its usual meaning of internally attending to the experience.

    Representational Theories of Consciousness Lycan, William 2006

  • I have not been a learner of foreign languages for any significant lengths of time to be able to introspect usefully for the benefit of your discussion, but I have noted how on those few occasions, the change of costumes and locale has a truly powerful effect on my motivation, my willingness to be playful and adventurous, to take risks and experiment with new or old-new phrases and words.

    I is for Identity « An A-Z of ELT 2010

  • Now she was lost in her own thoughts, about to introspect like a son of a bitch.

    Dreams of a Dark Warrior Kresley Cole 2011

  • But so, okay, here you go, three very revealing facts about my own self to accompany a story of introspect and plaintivity and other words existent and non -.

    I Stand Here Ironing | Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast 2009

  • Is it painful to introspect at such a tender, vulnerable level?

    Recovering From Religious Abuse Jack Watts 2011

  • Banks must introspect on issues such as excessive risk taking, misselling of foreign exchange derivatives, and an excessive focus on quarterly earnings, Mr. Subbarao added.

    RBI: Guidelines on New Bank Licenses Soon Nupur Acharya 2011

  • Is it painful to introspect at such a tender, vulnerable level?

    Recovering From Religious Abuse Jack Watts 2011

  • Funny how just a sentence or two can really put things in perspective and trigger some great introspect!

    Quote-Hunting: How to Improve Your Writing and Your Life | Write to Done 2009

  • Now she was lost in her own thoughts, about to introspect like a son of a bitch.

    Dreams of a Dark Warrior Kresley Cole 2011

  • This will tell the Swagger framework to introspect and instrument all JAX-WS instrumented classes specified in the com.sun.jersey.config.property.packages parameter in the web.xml.

    Scale your Developers with Swagger Tony Tam 2011

Comments

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  • Holmes does this when he is thinking about a case.

    June 18, 2012