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 Their pensive manner vibrates with febrile tension, and their actions have an impulsive urgency that energizes the movie’s careful composition. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024 Australian writer-director Robert Connolly had a domestic hit in 2021 with The Dry, a slow-burn murder mystery built around Eric Bana’s somber performance as a pensive city cop drawn back to the remote town of his childhood in the middle of a prolonged drought. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for pensive 

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 3 Jun. 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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