introspection

/ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/

introspection noun: a looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination, or inspection of one's own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts and states. Also the clipping of type introspection.

Noun

introspection (countable and uncountable, plural introspections)

A looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination, or inspection of one's own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts and states.
- If Adam Wheeler gave it some thought, or if someone were to prompt him with the right questions, he could put words around the fact that his existence doesn't bring him any satisfaction. He would discover, on introspection, that he's nowhere close, actually, to "happy", and that there is something...2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 133
Synonyms:

self-consciousness, reflection

Antonyms:

extraspection

Also used as

introspection is also the clipping of type introspection.

introspection meaning in Hindi, Kannada, Tagalog and Indonesian

introspection in Hindi

the act or process of self-examination: आत्मनिरीक्षण ātmanirīkṣaṇ, आत्मविश्लेषण ātmaviśleṣaṇ

introspection in Kannada

the act or process of self-examination: ಅಂತರವಲೋಕನ antaravalōkana

introspection in Tagalog

the act or process of self-examination: pagsisiyasat

introspection in Indonesian

the act or process of self-examination: wawas diri, introspeksi, refleksi diri

Examples of introspection in a sentence

Moreover, everyone will now accept that some aspects of our mental lives aren't even accessible to introspection.
But it offers pianistic thrills as well as a few moments of dreamy introspection, and Mr.
This, once again, is the art of introspection and stubborn, self-pleasing originality.

All 14 example sentences with introspection

Synonyms of introspection

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of introspection

Forms of introspection

plural	introspections

Plural of introspection: introspections

Origin of introspection

From Latin intrōspectiō, noun of action (with -iō) from past-participle (intrōspectus) stem of intrōspiciō (“to look into, look at, examine, observe attentively”), from intro- (“inward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look at”). By surface analysis, introspect + -ion.

Words formed from introspection

Phrases with introspection

introspection illusions

Words that rhyme with introspection

44 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about introspection

What does introspection mean?: Introspection means a looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination, or inspection of one's own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts and states.
What is introspection in Hindi?: Introspection in Hindi is आत्मनिरीक्षण (ātmanirīkṣaṇ), आत्मविश्लेषण (ātmaviśleṣaṇ). See Introspection meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is introspection?: Introspection is a noun.
How do you pronounce introspection?: Introspection is pronounced /ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/.
What is the plural of introspection?: The plural of introspection is introspections.

Words near introspection in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: introspection (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-introspection.wav.

Cite this entry: “introspection.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/introspection. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.