to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.
Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.
to meditate on.
to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.
Classical Mythology.
any of a number of sister goddesses, originally given as Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory), but latterly and more commonly as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy); identified by the Romans with the Camenae.
any goddess presiding over a particular art.
(sometimes lowercase) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.
(lowercase) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet.
to reflect (about) or ponder (on), usually in silence
(intr) to gaze thoughtfully
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English musen “to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished,” from Middle French muser, perhaps ultimately derivative of Medieval Latin mūsum “snout”; muzzle
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English Muse, from Middle French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Moûsa
First recorded in 1995–2000; by abbreviation
As a verb, to muse is to consider something thoughtfully. As a noun, it means a person — especially a woman — who is a source of artistic inspiration. In mythology, the Muses were nine goddesses who symbolized the arts and sciences. Today, a muse is a person who serves as an artist's inspiration. Often filmmakers talk about a certain actor being a muse — meaning the actor inspired a movie. Writers, painters, musicians, and other artists have muses. Muse can also refer to thinking deeply. If you muse about something, you're giving it serious thought. You can't muse in five seconds. People muse on certain ideas for years.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She also rejected being described as the artist's "muse".
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Olympia, his elusive love and sporadic muse, flits in and out of his life as she works her way up the tiers of the art world’s ziggurat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
“The muse spark API will be coming soon! we have been thrilled with the amount of excitement amongst developers who want to try muse spark inside their agentic harnesses,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
As they strolled through Tiananmen Square in Beijing last September, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to muse over the possibility that organ transplants could dramatically extend human life.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
“Ah, yes. Fancy the effect upon his melodies, laboring with his muse there so much closer both to Hell and the ruddy forge of Vulcan.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The feature was part of a broad rollout of Muse Image, a new AI image generation tool Meta released on Tuesday as part of Meta AI, the company’s chatbot.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Shares of Meta Platforms are riding a fresh wave of investor enthusiasm following a slew of artificial-intelligence developments this week, including the introduction of the company’s new Muse Spark 1.1 model.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Muse Spark 1.1 is Meta’s first model to boast near-frontier agentic coding capabilities and a paid application-programming interface.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Meta said it has protections to prevent Muse Image from making content that violates its policies, including violent, sexual or defamatory images.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Mr. Muse took out his wallet and gave him two dollars.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
“TELL ME, MUSE, of the dinners, much-nourishing and many in number.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
In Brooklyn's depressed Bedford-Stuyvesant area, the Brooklyn Children's Museum took over a building that had formerly housed a pool hall and an auto showroom, last month set up a neighborhood branch called MUSE.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now, dropt for politics and news, Neglected lay the drooping MUSE, Unmindful whence his fortune came, He stifled the poetic flame; Nor tale nor sonnet, for my lady, Lampoon, nor epigram was ready.
From Moores Fables for the Female Sex by Moore, Edward Caldwell
He is the hero of a poem called the "MOUNTAIN MUSE," by our amiable countryman, Bryan.
From The First White Man of the West Life and Exploits of Col. Dan'l. Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky; Interspersed with Incidents in the Early Annals of the Country. by Flint, Timothy
A beagle in a bandana muses, “Disappointing someone is not the same as hurting them.”
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
One day, he muses, his children might open a holographic interface and use biotech tools to design his grandchildren.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
“I wonder if he realizes he’s been the one grand passion in both our lives,” Jane muses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
America is still one of CMAT’s greatest muses, as well as the country that helped develop the dreams she now feels almost guilty for having.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
“Kwame,” Tano muses, as if considering adopting the name as his own.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
In line to buy merchandise Friday, Orange County’s Nick Valencia looked around and mused: “Wow, humans made this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
However, Wall Street on Monday mused if other suitors may look to outbid Fox for Roku.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
While trying to pick a vice-presidential candidate in 2024, Trump reportedly often mused: “Where is my Cary Grant?”
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
I cant be the only one,” she mused, but expressed hesitation about pursuing any action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
“So, Mater Ashton is paying a call at Ashton Place,” Penelope mused as she bounded over the rocky paths.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
President Donald Trump riffed on his White House predecessors in a children's podcast Friday, while also joking about his weight and musing as to whether his body is swimsuit-ready.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Meaning he won’t spend the time between now and Nov. 3 at some swank beach resort, sipping one of those colorful cocktails with a little paper parasol while musing over his inaugural address.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
The co-author of a report musing about artificial intelligence disrupting a host of businesses says he was betting those companies would go down in value.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026
“Some went in reverse, actually, if you look,” he said, musing on Europe’s colonial history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
“Well,” said he, “what are you musing about? What does that grave smile signify?”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
