complex thought process

[Pidginboy]

In one kind of thinking process (related to an individual known to me), he is not ingenuous, hides everything from others, tight-fisted, unwilling to discuss anything, guided by unproven sentiments, and does not mean what speaks- what is such thinking called? crooked or complex or cumbersome?

 

[JamesM]

It depends on what you think motivates this behavior. The same behavior can be described in many ways. There are many words but they each have their own meaning.

Words that spring to mind are: Shrewd, calculating, duplicitous, inscrutable, enigmatic or secretive.

 

[Dimcl]

Frankly, I don't think that any of these words work. You have described a number of traits that don't all fit into one neat package. He is obviously "narrow-minded" ("unwilling to discuss anything, guided by unproven sentiments"), "secretive"/"deceitful " ("not ingenuous", "does not mean what speaks", "hides everything from others").

I really don't know what you mean by "tight-fisted".

To me, the only word that comes close is "complex" but even that doesn't seem to suit.

 

[JamesM]

What does "unproven sentiments" mean, by the way?

(I agree that this is a tough package to wrap up in one word. )

 

[Pidginboy]

Thanks, JamesM and Dimcl. I want to illustrate an 'unproven sentiment' of that person by one incident.I asked him: "Do consider leaving your current job?". He replied, " I don't think there is such possibility". But, he left the said job just a day before, which I didn't know when I asked. His wife incidentally shared this fact with me two days later. It implied to me that he didn't want to disclose that fact to me since he presumably believes that such disclosure would displease some angels and his new venture would get harmed. This is what I mean by 'unproven sentiment'.

 

[shawnee]

I think a number of JamesM's terms become relevant here: duplicitous, calculating; and Dimcl's deceitful is on the money. I would add ruthless.