pensive
adjUK, US /ˈpɛn(t).sɪv/
Etymology From Middle English pensif, pensyfe, pencyve, from Old French pensif (“thoughtful”), from penser (“to think”) (from Latin pēnsō) + -if (English -ive).
1
Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought.
- He sat in pensive silence, weighing his options carefully.
2
Having the appearance of deep, often melancholic, thinking.
- The author’s tone grows pensive in the final chapters.
3
Looking thoughtful, especially from sadness.
- Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 4:
- Through the deep grass the faces of the three children glowed like pensive moons.1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 21:
- Synonyms
- contemplative, meditative, reflective, thoughtful, wistful
- Antonyms
- carefree, thoughtless, unreflective
- Derived terms
- overpensive, pensively, pensiveness