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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sing to them, muse, of an uncomplicated man.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
While each quotation provides something to muse over, the whole thing might be best summed up by a line from the comic poet Alexis: “The entire human condition’s completely insane.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Lorenze sometimes likes to conjure a tournament-specific muse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
In an effort to jump-start his muse last March, he took a trip to California's Joshua Tree National Park.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
“Calliope. Named for the muse of poetry. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard she’s beautiful.”
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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
Muse Spark 1.1 is the company’s first pay-to-use model, BNP Paribas analyst Nick Jones wrote in a Thursday note — meaning that it now has an opportunity to directly monetize its AI products.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Meta, in a blog post, described Muse Image as a “creative partner that knows your world, making it easy to turn your ideas into high-quality visuals you can download and share anywhere.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The company added Muse Image will soon be available on Facebook and Messenger, and through another tool where it can be used by advertisers.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The crier soon came, leading that man of song whom the Muse cherished; by her gift he knew the good of life, and evil—for she who lent him sweetness made him blind.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
“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
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
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
A beagle in a bandana muses, “Disappointing someone is not the same as hurting them.”
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t tell him where I lived,” she muses when David proposes collecting her for an evening out, but she dismisses her suspicions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 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
"You know, the main thing is just that music enriches your existence," he muses.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
“I always hoped we’d have a dentist in the family,” Mom muses.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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
He has mused about terminating the agreement altogether.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
“We’ll see what kind of music they’re playing this morning up in the milk barn,” he mused.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"With all these openings that are happening now, maybe I'll start a business," the 43-year-old mused.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
“But why worry, tomorrow everyone will have cakes and beer. Aye,” he mused, “Great Osiris is ready to loose his flood over the land once more. Seen any hangings lately?”
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The repercussions of this method still reverberate through Panettiere’s life today, with the actress musing: “I’ve often wondered whether—unintentionally—I’ve brought on my traumas because I’m wired to think they’re good for me.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
He noted however that Cuba has "a beautiful piece of land," musing: "You could have beautiful resorts."
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
Those examples have Carnegie Mellon’s Green musing: “Maybe there’s someone writing something now about the U.S. buying Greenland.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
In the changing rooms, a welcoming, ready-made friendship group of Newcastle-supporting team-mates pull on black and white jerseys while musing about early season defeats by Juventus and Inter Milan.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025
Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
