contemplative

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

/ kənˈtɛm plə tɪv, ˈkɒn təmˌpleɪ-, -tɛm- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contemplative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

given to or characterized by contemplation: a contemplative mind.

noun

a person devoted to contemplation, as a monk.

Nearby words

contemn, contemp., contemplable, contemplate, contemplation, contemplative, contemplative order, contempo, contemporaneous, contemporary, contemporize

Origin of contemplative

1300–50; < Latin contemplātīvus, equivalent to contemplāt(us) (see contemplate) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English contemplatif < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

SYNONYMS FOR contemplative

1 thoughtful, reflective, meditative.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contemplative ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

con·tem·pla·tive·ly, adverbcon·tem·pla·tive·ness, nounnon·con·tem·pla·tive, adjectivenon·con·tem·pla·tive·ly, adverb

non·con·tem·pla·tive·ness, nounun·con·tem·pla·tive, adjectiveun·con·tem·pla·tive·ly, adverbun·con·tem·pla·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contemplative

But it was that period in her life, when her career was just taking shape, that produces her most contemplative answers.
Diane von Furstenberg: How I Learned to Love My Wrap Dress|Lizzie Crocker|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I found their melancholy inviting and I appreciated their contemplative, lonely world.
The Stacks: Edward Hopper’s X-Ray Vision|Hilton Kramer|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Though the scene is spare, the effect is powerful: bright, solemn, contemplative.
Photographer Raymond Depardon Captures the ‘Sweet Moments’|Sarah Moroz|November 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But which I think has been slightly overstated – there's a contemplative upside to living in and among minimal sculptural forms.
Le Corbusier's Ouija Board|Blake Gopnik|July 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The spokesman for the office said that Jalics is leading a contemplative retreat until May 10, and cannot be reached.
Argentina’s Dirty War Casts a Pall Over Bergoglio|Christopher Dickey|March 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It does violence even to that minimum of intellectual eagerness which is the portion of a contemplative mind.
The Galaxy, June 1877|Various
The eyes were large and gray, the expression that of a contemplative savant, with a faint dash of irony in their glance.
Ghosts I Have Seen|Violet Tweedale
Consequently it is not comprised in our division of life into the active and the contemplative.
On Prayer and The Contemplative Life|St. Thomas Aquinas
Especially on the contemplative side of life, education does great things for us; or would do, if we gave it the chance.
The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day|Evelyn Underhill
But there is a poetic Arcadia none the less, the real Arcadia mirrored in a contemplative mind.
Soliloquies in England|George Santayana

British Dictionary definitions for contemplative

contemplative

/ (ˈkɒntɛmˌpleɪtɪv, -təm-, kənˈtɛmplə-) /

adjective

denoting, concerned with, or inclined to contemplation; meditative

noun

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

Derived Forms

contemplatively, adverbcontemplativeness, noun

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

contemplative

adjective

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of contemplative

SYNONYMS FOR contemplative

Related forms

Examples from the Web for contemplative

British Dictionary definitions for contemplative

contemplative

adjective

noun

Derived Forms