pensive

adjective

pen·​sive ˈpen(t)-siv How to pronounce pensive (audio)
1
: musingly or dreamily thoughtful
a pensive young poet
2
: suggestive of sad thoughtfulness
her face had the pensive mournfulness of a seraph in an old sad paintingHerman Wouk
pensively adverb
pensiveness noun

Examples of pensive in a Sentence

… the combination of national crisis and imminent electoral victory creates an atmosphere at once pensive and elated. Yossi Klein Halevi, New Republic, 25 Dec. 2000
We take in the synchronized swimming of sardines and the pensive patrol of a leopard shark. Roger Rosenblatt, Time, 5 Oct. 1998
… did not seem depressed so much as pensive, and within a few minutes he was talking eagerly—in fact, unstoppably—about his favorite subject: school. James Traub, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 1994
The child sat by himself, looking pensive. rainy days often put her in a pensive mood
Recent Examples on the Web No crying out, no convulsions—nothing but the fixity of a pensive gaze. Christopher Tayler, Harper's Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023 Inspired by the fragility of life on an increasingly fraught planet, its 10 pieces are by turns contemplative and charged, airy and dense, pensive and joyful. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Jan. 2024 If the writing can be challenging to parse, the guitar playing is not: whether joyful or melancholy, pensive or exuberant, Mills’ instrumental lines ground the music in undeniable human feeling. Pitchfork, 6 Dec. 2023 The pensive track arrived with a VHS-style music video directed by Spencer Miller. Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2023 From the way she’s written in the book, the character could have been very pensive, nerdy and awkward, but Sinclair is so charming. Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Sep. 2023 But at the heart of the score is this pensive, jazzy personality — and her father’s piano. Tim Greiving, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023 The actor sported a pensive expression while filming scenes for 1998's The Man in the Iron Mask. 09 of 10 Partner in Crime DiCaprio and his Titanic costar Kate Winslet — pictured here at the 1998 Golden Globes — have remained close through the years. Grace Gavilanes, Peoplemag, 9 Nov. 2023 There’s an obvious mood to the photographs in Metropolitan Melancholia: An old Greek furrier sits behind window bars in his office near Penn Station, his face pensive. Curbed, 20 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pensive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English pensif, from Anglo-French, from penser to think, from Latin pensare to ponder, frequentative of pendere to weigh — more at pendant

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pensive was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pensive

Cite this Entry

“Pensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pensive. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pensive

adjective
pen·​sive ˈpen(t)-siv How to pronounce pensive (audio)
1
: dreamily thoughtful
2
: suggestive of sad thoughtfulness
pensively adverb
pensiveness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on pensive

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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