pensive

[ pen-siv ]
See synonyms for: pensivepensivelypensiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. dreamily or wistfully thoughtful: a pensive mood.

  2. expressing or revealing thoughtfulness, usually marked by some sadness: a pensive adagio.

Origin of pensive

1
First recorded in 1325–75; from French (feminine); replacing Middle English pensif, from Middle French (masculine), from pens(er) “to think” (from Latin pēnsāre “to consider, weigh,” literally, “to hang repeatedly,” from pendere “to cause to hang, consider, weigh”) + -if -ive

synonym study For pensive

1. Pensive , meditative , reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. Pensive , the weakest of the three, suggests dreaminess or wistfulness, and may involve little or no thought to any purpose: a pensive, faraway look. Meditative involves thinking of certain facts or phenomena, perhaps in the religious sense of “contemplation,” without necessarily having a goal of complete understanding or of action: meditative but unjudicial. Reflective has a strong implication of orderly, perhaps analytic, processes of thought, usually with a definite goal of understanding: a careful and reflective critic.

Opposites for pensive

Other words from pensive

  • pen·sive·ly, adverb
  • pen·sive·ness, noun
  • o·ver·pen·sive, adjective
  • o·ver·pen·sive·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·pen·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pensive in a sentence

  • He sought her in her favorite nook by the side of the La Belle, and there he found her gazing pensively into the water.

  • The maiden was seated a few paces from him; she was gazing into the fire pensively, and tears stood in her eyes.

    The Border Rifles | Gustave Aimard
  • "Yeast that ferments is always sour, my child," replied the baker, reclining his head pensively.

  • Sir John tapped with his gloved finger pensively on the knob of his silver-mounted cane.

    With Edged Tools | Henry Seton Merriman

British Dictionary definitions for pensive

pensive

/ (ˈpɛnsɪv) /


adjective
  1. deeply or seriously thoughtful, often with a tinge of sadness

  2. expressing or suggesting pensiveness

Origin of pensive

1
C14: from Old French pensif, from penser to think, from Latin pensāre to consider; compare pension 1

Derived forms of pensive

  • pensively, adverb
  • pensiveness, 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