muse 1 of 2

muse

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word muse different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of muse are meditate, ponder, and ruminate. While all these words mean "to consider or examine attentively or deliberately," muse suggests a more or less focused daydreaming as in remembrance.

mused upon childhood joys

When is it sensible to use meditate instead of muse?

While in some cases nearly identical to muse, meditate implies a definite focusing of one's thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply.

meditated on the meaning of life

When might ponder be a better fit than muse?

The meanings of ponder and muse largely overlap; however, ponder implies a careful weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about a matter.

pondered the course of action

Where would ruminate be a reasonable alternative to muse?

While the synonyms ruminate and muse are close in meaning, ruminate implies going over the same matter in one's thoughts again and again but suggests little of either purposive thinking or rapt absorption.

ruminated on past disappointments

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 muse
Noun
This dynamic took on fresh intensity on Monday, when Trump renewed his criticisms of Pritzker, taunting his physical fitness and musing about sending the National Guard to Chicago. Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2025 Once Fogerty started openly musing about wanting his old instrument back, Julie secretly went to work tracking it down. Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Verb
The moon’s a muse in other ways too. Khanh T.l. Tran, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025 These poems muse on being a quiet studious Chicano growing up in 1950s Alice, TX. Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for muse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muse
Noun
  • Over the years, the festival has expanded to include artists, musicians, storytellers, poets, and more, all focused on a theme relevant to the social, religious, and political needs of the Louisville community and beyond.
    Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Chefitz was a mountain climber, soccer player, cross-country motorcyclist, flamenco guitarist, writer and poet — to name just some of his hobbies.
    Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Now Guillermo del Toro — cinema’s biggest proponent of big-screen fantasy — has completed his two-and-a-half-hour version, an epic adaptation with a blockbuster budget, a stamp of auteurship, and decades spent ruminating on the relevance of Shelley’s text in the modern era.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Trump has long ruminated on his desire to win the prize.
    Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Like many such venues across America, the Kempner also hosted lectures, minstrel shows, musicals, operas, plays and vaudeville acts, along with community events such as school graduations.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Aug. 2025
  • His grandfather Daniel was a miner who would perish in an underground accident, and his great uncle George owned a minstrel show that toured Western mining camps.
    Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2025
Verb
  • The Athletic’s Mike Jones recently wondered if Miami had to go on a postseason run to save McDaniel’s job, and CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz pondered during the Chiefs-Raiders game whether there would soon be news out of Miami.
    Zac Jackson, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Charles Lee pondered his answer for a split second.
    Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The show ends with Tom looking out the window at his garden, perhaps meditating on the nature of redemption.
    Grace Byron, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
  • While the reason behind the celebrations may be different, to commemorate the festival, Sikhs will also go to the Gurdwara to pray and meditate, light diyas and set off fireworks.
    Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Louise Hémon The jury would also like to acknowledge a director whose film transported us into an extreme landscape, and created an unsettling atmosphere that kept us contemplating the nature of lust, education, and violence.
    Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Deacon clatters off in his truck, leaving me to contemplate my new home.
    Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Passmore reflects on Shakur’s life and considers how her story highlights the broader struggles and resilience of Black activists whose work is marginalized in mainstream histories.
    Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
  • During a June 2025 interview with The New York Times Magazine announcing her retirement, Copeland reflected on her impact as the changing face of elite ballet.
    Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The Congressional Budget Office projects the total national debt will exceed $38 trillion by 2029, growing roughly $7 trillion a year.
    Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Investors also overwhelmingly expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point this week, while the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are projected to keep borrowing costs steady.
    Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Muse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muse. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.

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