as in melancholy
given to or marked by long, quiet thinking
rainy days often put her in a pensive mood
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pensive
If the position happens to be software programmer, then your quieter, more focused, pensive side needs to come through.
—
Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2025
In such an intimate, pensive atmosphere, characters emerge gradually out of the rugged landscape like windswept trees or weathered stones.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
Please submit your answers via old-timey telegraphs — and an expansion of his thematic preoccupations, The Phoenician Scheme finds our man Wes in a somewhat pensive mood.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2025
His subtle direction also basks in critical moments of silence: a smoke break outside the classroom, the frustrated focus during an exam, and the pensive, haunting opening and closing image of Marjan looking out through semi-transparent curtains.
—Christian Lewis, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pensive
Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2025
In such an intimate, pensive atmosphere, characters emerge gradually out of the rugged landscape like windswept trees or weathered stones.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
Please submit your answers via old-timey telegraphs — and an expansion of his thematic preoccupations, The Phoenician Scheme finds our man Wes in a somewhat pensive mood.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2025
His subtle direction also basks in critical moments of silence: a smoke break outside the classroom, the frustrated focus during an exam, and the pensive, haunting opening and closing image of Marjan looking out through semi-transparent curtains.
—Christian Lewis, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pensive
Adjective
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Brian Dunne’s terrific new album Clams Casino possesses that same kind of teleportation magic, albeit with less nostalgia and more melancholy.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
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If the themes sound melancholy, Jackman ensures the execution is never dour.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Told from the point of view of Ruffalo's lawman and the everyman (Tom Pelphry) who is surprisingly leading the robberies, the drama is seriously dark but also thoughtful and addictive.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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The goal isn’t wholesale replacement of traditional investments but rather thoughtful inclusion to improve long-term outcomes.—
Rick Unser,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The paddles would be situated 180 degrees with relation to one another, so the reflective sides point in opposite directions.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The product has nine light-reflective shades and is infused with 85 percent skincare ingredients, the company tells me.—
Rachel Burchfield,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Indeed, Devonté Hynes, on his fifth studio LP as Blood Orange, manages to make life’s contemplative moments seem urgent, celestial, and rehabilitative.—
Will Dukes,
Rolling Stone,
2 Sep. 2025
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This is where a contemplative approach to leadership is most valuable.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Chapple, the late Queen’s beekeeper, went first to Clarence House and then Buckingham Palace to perform his somber duty of telling the bees, a centuries-old custom of informing the bees when their owner has died.—
Elizabeth Bass Parman,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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News voices in the 1970's tended to be somber, accent-less, and almost exclusively male.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pensive. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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