MEANING
To understand behavior by considering the thoughts, feelings, or intentions that may lie behind it.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- mentalize another person's behavior
- the ability to mentalize
On the page
When she began to mentalize his silence, she considered fear as well as indifference.
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- mentalize
- Past tense
- mentalized
- Past participle
- mentalized
- Present participle
- mentalizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- mentalize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are mentalizing
- Present perfect
- have/has mentalized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been mentalizing
- Past
- mentalized
- Past continuous
- was/were mentalizing
- Past perfect
- had mentalized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been mentalizing
- Future
- will mentalize
- Future continuous
- will be mentalizing
- Future perfect
- will have mentalized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been mentalizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: mentalize; mentalizes; mentalized; mentalized; mentalizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: uncommon. Third-person singular: mentalizes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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