contemplative

[ kuhn-tem-pluh-tiv, kon-tuhm-pley-, -tem- ]

adjective

1. given to or characterized by contemplation:

   a contemplative mind.

   Synonyms: meditative, reflective, thoughtful

noun

1. a person devoted to contemplation, as a monk.

contemplative

/ -təm-; ˈkɒntɛmˌpleɪtɪv; kənˈtɛmplə- /

adjective

1. denoting, concerned with, or inclined to contemplation; meditative

noun

1. a person dedicated to religious contemplation or to a way of life conducive to this

Derived Forms

• ˈcontemˌplatively, adverb
• ˈcontemˌplativeness, noun

Other Words From

• con·templa·tive·ly adverb
• con·templa·tive·ness noun
• noncon·templa·tive adjective
• noncon·templa·tive·ly adverb
• noncon·templa·tive·ness noun
• uncon·templa·tive adjective
• uncon·templa·tive·ly adverb
• uncon·templa·tive·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contemplative¹

First recorded in 1300–50; from Latin contemplātīvus, from contemplāt(us) “surveyed, observed” ( contemplate ) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English contemplatif, from Anglo-French, from Latin, as above

Example Sentences

This year’s Broccoli City headliner is Lil Baby, the deft Georgia rapper who does his finest work in intimate chirps and contemplative squeaks.

From Washington Post

Instead, the book is an unnerving, contemplative look at solitude and the connections we make with the outside world.

From Time

Stowaway pulls plenty of pages from the generic space-movie handbook, but it still builds a mood of dread and contemplative ennui, finding its resolution in a final, somber shot.

From Time

The reader gets to know this contemplative narrator through a series of vignettes that showcase her witty observational skills and Lahiri’s piercing prose.

From Time

One exterior path will mimic a mountain climb, while the other will provide access to more contemplative outdoor spaces, for reading, chilling or checking email.

From Washington Post

But it was that period in her life, when her career was just taking shape, that produces her most contemplative answers.

From The Daily Beast

I found their melancholy inviting and I appreciated their contemplative, lonely world.

From The Daily Beast

Though the scene is spare, the effect is powerful: bright, solemn, contemplative.

From The Daily Beast

Scott's film is less contemplative and more grounded than McCarthy's script, with most of the philosophical digressions excised.

From The Daily Beast

But which I think has been slightly overstated – there's a contemplative upside to living in and among minimal sculptural forms.

From The Daily Beast

Thereafter he went into a contemplative frame of mind to the docks, and found Sam Blake as usual in his bunk.

From Project Gutenberg

An upright, phlegmatic man who finally led the contemplative life of one of the ancient hermits.

From Project Gutenberg

It was Tanqueray who kept on looking at him with clear, contemplative eyes under brows no longer irritable.

From Project Gutenberg

He was merely a friend of her aunt's, and from that contemplative position he never stepped down.

From Project Gutenberg

The fish will regard with contemplative indifference every other lure but a close imitation of that particular insect.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• introspective
• meditative
• pensive
• reflective
• thoughtful