pensive

pen·sive

 (pĕn′sĭv)

adj.

1. Engaged in deep and serious thought.

2. Showing or expressing deep, often melancholy thought: a pensive look.

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[Middle English pensif, from Old French, from penser, to think, from Latin pēnsāre, frequentative of pendere, to weigh; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]

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pen′sive·ly adv.

pen′sive·ness n.

Synonyms: pensive, contemplative, reflective, meditative, thoughtful
These adjectives mean characterized by or disposed to deep or serious thought. Pensive often connotes a wistful, dreamy, or sad quality: "while pensive poets painful vigils keep" (Alexander Pope).
Contemplative implies slow directed consideration, often with conscious intent of achieving better understanding or spiritual or aesthetic enrichment: "[He] had envisioned an actual grove of academe through which scholars young and old might take contemplative strolls" (Tom Wolfe).
Reflective suggests careful analytical deliberation, as in reappraising past experience: "She ... is as wise as if she'd been on this earth for eighty years. Her nature is reflective—not all over the map, like mine" (Alice Munro).
Meditative implies earnest sustained thought: "She sat with her shoulders rounded in some clearly deepening meditative privacy and forgot me" (E.L. Doctorow).
Thoughtful can refer to absorption in thought or to the habit of reflection and circumspection: "I had spoken at once ... to Silvius about our departure, and we talked the matter over, for he was a thoughtful and intelligent child, and children have a wisdom of their own" (Ursula K. Le Guin).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pensive

(ˈpɛnsɪv)

adj

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

2. expressing or suggesting pensiveness

[C14: from Old French pensif, from penser to think, from Latin pensāre to consider; compare pension¹]

ˈpensively adv

ˈpensiveness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pen•sive

(ˈpɛn sɪv)

adj.

1. dreamily or wistfully thoughtful.

2. expressing thoughtfulness or sadness.

[1325–75; Middle English pensif < Middle French, derivative of penser to think < Latin pēnsāre to weigh, consider, derivative of pendere. See pension, -ive]

pen′sive•ly, adv.

pen′sive•ness, n.

syn: pensive, meditative, reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. pensive 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: a slow, meditative reply. reflective has a strong implication of orderly, perhaps analytic, processes of thought, usu. with a definite goal of understanding: a reflective critic.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	pensive - deeply or seriously thoughtful; "Byron lives on not only in his poetry, but also in his creation of the 'Byronic hero' - the persona of a brooding melancholy young man"; contemplative, meditative, musing, pondering, reflective, ruminative, brooding, broody thoughtful - exhibiting or characterized by careful thought; "a thoughtful paper"
	2.	pensive - showing pensive sadness; "the sensitive and wistful response of a poet to the gentler phases of beauty" wistful sad - experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; "feeling sad because his dog had died"; "Better by far that you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad"- Christina Rossetti

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

pensive

adjective thoughtful, serious, sad, blue (informal), grave, sober, musing, preoccupied, melancholy, solemn, reflective, dreamy, wistful, mournful, contemplative, meditative, sorrowful, ruminative, in a brown study (informal), cogitative He looked suddenly sombre and pensive.
happy, active, cheerful, frivolous, joyous, carefree, gay, light-hearted

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

pensive

adjective

Of, characterized by, or disposed to thought:

cogitative, contemplative, deliberative, excogitative, meditative, reflective, ruminative, speculative, thinking, thoughtful.

Idiom: in a brown study.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

مُسْتَغْرِق في أفكارِه

zádumčivý

eftertænksomtankefuld

gedankenvollnachdenklich

pensativo

pensif

zamišljen

í òungum òönkum

contemplativopensierosopensoso

liūdnai susimąstęsliūdnas svajingumaspaskendęs savo mintyse

domīgs

ettertenksom

pensativo

zádumčivý

dalgındüşünceli

沉思的

pensive

[ˈpensɪv] ADJ (gen) → pensativo, meditabundo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pensive

[ˈpɛnsɪv] adj [person, look] → pensif/ive

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pensive

adj, pensively

adv → nachdenklich; (= sadly serious) → schwermütig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pensive

[ˈpɛnsɪv] adj → pensoso/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pensive

(ˈpensiv) adjective

thinking deeply (about something). a pensive mood. diep denkend مُسْتَغْرِق في أفكارِه замислен pensativo zádumčivý gedankenvoll tankefuld; eftertænksom σκεπτικόςpensativo mõtlik اندیشناک mietteliäs pensifמהורהר विचारमग्र ozbiljan, zamišljen gondolkodó termenung-menung í þungum þönkum pensoso 物思いにふける 멍하니 생각에 잠긴 liūdnai susimąstęs, svajingas domīgs dlm keadaan termenung peinzendettertenksom, tankefull zadumany, melancholijny په فكر كښې ډوب، متفكر، چرتي pensativo gân­ditor задумчивый zádumčivý zamišljen zamišljen tankfull, fundersam ครุ่นคิด düşünceli, dalgın 沉思的 замислений, задумливий متفکر trầm ngâm 沉思的

ˈpensively adverb

diep denkend باسْتِغْراق في الأفكار замислено pensativamente zadumaně gedankenvoll tankefuldt; eftertænksomt σκεπτικά pensativamente mõtlikult بطور اندیشناک mietteliäästi pensivement בִּמהוּרהַר विचारमग्रता से zamišljeno, ozbiljno (el)gondolkodóan penuh pikiran þungt hugsi pensosamente 物思いにふけって 애수 띠게, 시름에 잠긴 듯이 paskendęs savo mintyse, svajingai domīgi sambil termenung peinzendettertenksomt, tankefullt melancholijnie په متفكر انه ډول، دچرت په توګه pensativamente gânditor задумчиво zadumane zamišljeno zamišljeno tankfullt, fundersamt อย่างครุ่นคิด düşüncelere dalmış bir şekilde 沉思地 замислено متفکرانہ trầm ngâm 沉思地

ˈpensiveness noun

denkendheid إسْتِغْراق في الأفْكار замисленост alheamento zamyšlenost die Nachdenklichkeit tankefuldhed; eftertænksomhed περισυλλογή actitud pensativa mõtlikkus فکرت mietteliäisyys air pensif שְׁקִיעָה בְּמַחשָׁבוֹת विचारमग्रता zamišljenost, sjetnost elgondolkodás keadaan penuh pikiran það að vera í þungum þönkum pensosità 物思い 꼴똘히 생각에 잠김 liūdnas svajingumas domīgums keadaan termenung peinzende stemming ettertenksomhet, tungsindighetmelancholia, zaduma چرت alheamento aer gânditor; caracter meditativ задумчивость zamyslenosť zamišljenost zamišljenost tankfullhet, fundersamhet การครุ่นคิด düşüncelere dalma 沉思 замисленість تفکر vẻ trầm ngâm 沉思

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.