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definitions

brown study

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brown study ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

deep, serious absorption in thought: Lost in a brown study, she was oblivious to the noise.

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RELATED WORDS

absorption, abstraction, preoccupation, reverie, study, engrossment

Origin of brown study

First recorded in 1525–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for brown study

Historical Examples of brown study

  • "And more people to do it, too," muttered Tom Trefethen, as he sank into a brown-study.

  • After all, employment, next to a clear conscience, is the best antidote to a brown-study.

    Hildebrand

    Anonymous

  • By the help of brown-study from the interior of our brain, from revelation, or from experience?

  • Next came a long procession composed of high numbers, all of the "brown-study color."

    The Monikins

    J. Fenimore Cooper

  • Toby put another doughnut in the outstretched hand, and then sat silently, as if in a brown-study over some difficult problem.

British Dictionary definitions for brown study

brown study

noun

a mood of deep absorption or thoughtfulness; reverie
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012