introvert
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪn.tɹə.vɜːt/
ipa: /ˈɪn.tɹə.vɝt/
Forms: form: introverts
Etymology: From New Latin intrōvertere, from intro- (“within”) and vertere (“to turn”). Popularized as a psychological term by the German works of Carl Jung. By surface analysis, intro- + -vert.
Senses: examples: text: Important distinctions which obtain amongst the various ‘introverts’ or intro- and e-versible tubes so frequently met with in animal bodies.
ref: 1883, E. Ray Lankester, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XVI, p. 652, s.v. "Mollusca"
text: Peanut worms (phylum Sipunculida) are drab-colored bottom dwellers, most of which are less then four inches long. Their body is divided into two sections: the trunk and the introvert. The introvert, the narrow neck-like anterior section, is used as a probe.
ref: 1990, Deborah A. Coulombe, Seaside Naturalist, →ISBN, page 76:
text: When a peanut worm feeds, it extends and waves its introvert so that the mouth at the tip wanders across the seabed.
ref: 2006, Nematodes, Leeches, and Other Worms, →ISBN, page 38:
text: The introvert is everted by hydraulic pressure exerted by contraction of body muscles on the coelomic fluid.
ref: 2009, Lynn Marguli, Michael J Chapman, Kingdoms and Domains: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth, →ISBN:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: An organ or other body part that is or can be turned inside out, especially an anterior portion of some annelid worms capable of retraction.
examples: text: An Extravert can hardly conceive the necessity which compels the Introvert to conquer the world by means of a system.
ref: 1916, Constance Ellen Long trans. Carl Jung as Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology, p. 349
text: In order to understand the marked contract between Comte's mental attitude during his early years and that of his later life, we must keep in mind Jung's hypothesis of the two psychological types, the introvert and extrovert,—the thinking type and the feeling type.
ref: 1918 April, Phyllis Blanchard, “A Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte”, in American Journal of Psychology, page 163:
text: All works of the imagination are conceived by men of the introvert type.
ref: 1920 May 21, Challenge, page 44:
text: The introvert abstracts from the object and deals with it by concepts concentrating upon the inner world of thought.
ref: 1925, Charles Fox, Educational Psychology, page 254:
text: And while her introverted clients may be feeling less stressed, and sometimes even emboldened by social distancing, Blandino said both extroverts and introverts can leverage technology to weather the storm.
ref: 2020 March 23, Ryan Prior, “The extrovert’s guide to social distancing”, in CNN:
text: This softly spoken but fluent communicator describes himself as an introvert who prefers not to shout from the rooftops.
ref: 2021 January 13, Paul Clifton, “Delivering a basis for rail changes”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 30:
text: Dr. Kaminski’s theory developed over decades of observing clients who didn’t fully identify as either introvert or extrovert.
ref: 2025 August 17, Sarah Avi, “Meet the “Otrovert,” A New Personality Type That May Describe You Better Than Anything”, in Free Jupiter:
text: So if introverts look inwards, and extroverts outwards, where the hell do otroverts look? Neither of the above.
ref: 2025 August 20, “Are you an otrovert? Why this personality type could be your greatest gift”, in The Guardian:
topics: human-sciences
psychology
sciences
glosses: An introverted person: one who is considered more thoughtful than social, with a personality more inwardly than outwardly directed; one who often prefers to have time in non-social situations.
glosses: A reserved person.
Derived terms: introvertly
introvertness
Related terms: ambivert