pensiveness
nounEtymology From pensive + -ness.
1
A thoughtful or reflective state, especially if sad or melancholic.
- We left quietly so as not to disturb the widow's pensiveness.
- Yet the employment seemed a pleasant one; her cheek was flushed with a clear, rich crimson—her face / "Was like any fair lake that the morning is on, / When it breaks into dimples, and laughs in the sun." / And if, ever and anon, the brow was clouded by a shade of pensiveness, it was quickly dispelled by the consciousness of present happiness.1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 106: