Meaning & use
food for thought
Last updated
UK/fuːd fə θɔːt/
US/fuːd fər θɔːt/
Meaning
phraseidiom
Something that makes you think seriously about a subject.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun phrase: that gave me food for thought.
Patterns
- give someone food for thought
- provide food for thought
The lecture gave us plenty of food for thought.
Her comments were real food for thought.
The documentary provides food for thought about waste.
Common combinations
- give food for thought
- The ending gives food for thought.
- provide food for thought
- The report provides food for thought.
- plenty of food for thought
- There was plenty of food for thought in the talk.
- real food for thought
- Her advice was real food for thought.
Synonyms and how they differ
- something to ponder
- This is plainer and more literal, while food for thought is a set expression.
- thought-provoking
- Thought-provoking is an adjective, so it describes a thing; food for thought is a noun phrase.
- consideration
- Consideration is formal and general, with no figurative image.
Word family
- thought noun
- an idea or the act of thinking
- think verb
- to use the mind
- thoughtful adjective
- deep in thought or considerate
- food noun
- what people eat
Commonly confused: food for thought or thoughtful?
food for thought vs thoughtful
Thoughtful means considerate or reflective, not something that makes others think.
Practice
The author's last chapter left me with a lot of ____.
Choose one answer.
Food for thought means ideas to think about. The other idioms have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “food for thought”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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