contemplating

verb

present participle of contemplate
1
as in pondering
to give serious and careful thought to she contemplated the problem for several hours before reaching a decision

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in planning
to have in mind as a purpose or goal he waited patiently, contemplating revenge all the while

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contemplating While all of this is happening, Paul also reconnects with Ben, a musician who viewers met during Season 4, and begins contemplating yet another relationship. — Krystie Lee Yandoli, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026 Pegula advanced to face Sorana Cirstea, the 36-year-old from Romania who is contemplating retirement after this season. — ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026 Moreno, who in 2003 became baseball’s first Latino owner, was still contemplating a potential exit strategy, according to new club president Molly Jolly. — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026 In 2023, the Miami Herald reported that Díaz-Canel told a room of Cuban American businesspeople that the Cuban government was contemplating letting Cuban Americans invest in and own businesses on the island, and was working on legislation to do it. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026 The central bank, meanwhile, is contemplating raising interest rates later this year, potentially issuing its first hike since 2023. — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026 Earlier, writer-director Lanctôt won two prizes at Venice in 1984 for her first feature, Sonatine, about two teenage girls contemplating suicide. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 24 Aug. 2026 Just pulsing in their Petri dishes, contemplating moral relativity or migraines. — Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 20 Aug. 2026 My parents, contemplating their mortality, decided to relocate from the Pacific Northwest to an apartment near me. — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contemplating
  1. pondering
  2. planning
  3. considering
  4. intending
  5. debating
  6. looking
  7. studying
  8. questioning
Verb
  • Kronengold and Shaw are still pondering what will come of that if Adults gets to be renewed.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The summer before his junior year of high school, he was accepted into the SPARK program and was pondering his next direction.
    — Beth Reese Cravey, Florida Times-Union, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of pondering
Verb
  • The president is planning to take the stage both nights of the convention, giving a keynote address Wednesday and then closing remarks after Vice President JD Vance gives his own speech the following night.
    — Will Weissert, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Louisiana site moves forward The company is also planning a technology-neutral screening of available small modular reactor designs.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of planning
Verb
  • The panel's decision comes even as the Supreme Court is already considering the same case, which is part of a frenzied legal rush as states are beginning to send out mail ballots for this fall's midterm elections.
    — NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
  • It may be overlooked, considering how comfortable Suzuki appears when carrying out Unai Emery’s ploy of his backline baiting an opponent’s press, but at Parma, he was required to kick mostly long.
    — Aston Villa, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of considering
Verb
  • Richardson’s trade request has remained intact throughout training camp and the preseason, but assistant GM Ed Dodds strongly hinted in mid-August that the Colts were intending to keep Richardson.
    — James Boyd, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Developer Mikki Schuck bought the building in late 2024 intending to fully renovate the top two stories — previously offices — into luxury apartments and a restaurant once more on the ground floor.
    — Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of intending
Verb
  • Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space in 2012, although scientists are still debating about exactly where that boundary lies.
    — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Schrader approaches some pretty tetchy, third-rail territory, doing some debating about whether one act of child abuse means that John is, inherently, a child abuser by nature.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of debating
Verb
  • The hero, or antihero, of the story is Ichabod Crane, a rather ridiculous-looking schoolmaster who has set his cap for Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful, coquettish daughter of a wealthy Dutch farmer.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Relativity Space is already looking beyond rockets before ever putting anything into orbit.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of looking
Verb
  • His team has recently been studying how hearing factors into this, and preliminary findings indicate that the sounds people make while swimming can make a shark more likely to approach from a distance.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Another successful student is Surovi Khatun, an undergrad student currently studying at Nawab Siraj-Ud-Dowla Government College of Natore, a neighboring district of Pabna.
    — Ali Asif Shawon, NPR, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of studying
Verb
  • Missouri Supreme Court judges, while questioning a state attorney representing Hoskins, repeatedly pressed for Hoskins to send out guidance Thursday to use the 2022 version of the congressional districts.
    — DAVID A. LIEB, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Economists balked at the proposal, questioning whether any future Congress, regardless of party control, would pass a plan that would balloon the national debt and annual deficit.
    — Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of questioning

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contemplates
contemplating
contemplation
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Cite this Entry

“Contemplating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemplating. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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