soul-searching
/ˈsəʊlsəːtʃɪŋ
/noun [mass noun]
Deep and anxious consideration of one’s emotions and motives or of the correctness of a course of action: my conclusions required a great deal of soul-searching...
- The experience was a time of deep reflection and soul-searching.
- We are, very simply, unprepared for dealing with pangs of shame or for undertaking spiritual soul-searchings.
- I have a lot of thinking to do, a lot of soul-searching to find my motives for wanting to do this and for why I haven't already.
adjective
Involving or expressing deep and anxious consideration of one’s emotions or motives: after a long, soul-searching conversation, they were finally reconciled...
- Your team will need to have soul-searching conversations about the supplier responses.
- Hal admits to having taken it, and after a long soul-searching conversation, father and son are finally reconciled.
- It is a soul-searching journey, incorporating mind matters and spirit matters, a gradual awakening to the joys of spiritual awareness on a road to discovery.