Word.ws English Dictionary

mental gymnastics

mental gymnastics noun: difficult and complex logical thought processes, especially when performed effortlessly.

Noun

mental gymnastics pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) Difficult and complex logical thought processes, especially when performed effortlessly.
    • To cope with these mental gymnastics we apply various ways of simplifying and reducing the information.
  2. (derogatory, plural, plural-only) Inventive, complex arguments used to justify what is otherwise unjustifiable.
    • People often perform mental gymnastics in order to blame anyone but themselves.
    • But the end of science is to know reality. It is not mental gymnastics or a logical pastime.1949, Ludwig von Mises, Human Action, Mises Institute, page 65

Words formed from mental gymnastics

Questions about mental gymnastics

What does mental gymnastics mean?
Mental gymnastics means difficult and complex logical thought processes, especially when performed effortlessly.
What part of speech is mental gymnastics?
Mental gymnastics is a noun.

Words near mental gymnastics in the dictionary

  1. mental disorders
  2. mental disturbance
  3. mental foramen
  4. mental foramina
  5. mental gymnast
  6. mental gymnastics
  7. mental gymnasts
  8. mental health
  9. mental health care
  10. mental health day
  11. mental health days

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mental gymnastics (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.

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