Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of ponder are meditate, muse, and ruminate. While all these words mean "to consider or examine attentively or deliberately," ponder implies a careful weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about a matter.

pondered the course of action

In what contexts can meditate take the place of ponder?

While the synonyms meditate and ponder are close in meaning, meditate implies a definite focusing of one's thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply.

meditated on the meaning of life

When would muse be a good substitute for ponder?

The synonyms muse and ponder are sometimes interchangeable, but muse suggests a more or less focused daydreaming as in remembrance.

mused upon childhood joys

When is it sensible to use ruminate instead of ponder?

The words ruminate and ponder are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, 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 ponder These are all questions to ponder when evaluating expertise as a leader. Barbara Puszkiewicz-Cimino, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025 Figuring out how to manage and reduce stress is always a question worth pondering. Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 17 Sep. 2025 See travel and groceries as top two spending categories and ponder more ways to save on groceries. R29 Team, Refinery29, 17 Sep. 2025 As Mary’s family attempts to rally around the Downton heiress, Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) are navigating their way through more financial strife, with those downstairs also left to ponder what the future holds for aristocratic homes like theirs. Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ponder
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponder
Verb
  • In a Fox Business interview, Carr mentioned that the FTC is contemplating broadening its click-to-cancel rulemaking, asserting his disagreement with the previous administration’s approach to establishing the rule.
    Jordan Green, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Convenient scapegoat The council is widely considered unreformable because neither America nor Russia and China would ever contemplate giving up the veto privilege that gums up what could be an international peacekeeping organ.
    Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Front Office Sports reported Friday that Stars ownership is considering a site in Plano, Texas, approximately 20 miles from Dallas.
    Rob Rossi, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2025
  • In traditional Chinese medicine, this spice is considered to have antiseptic and digestive benefits.
    Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The historic Belcourt Theatre will entertain all the Music City cinephiles.
    Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 1 Oct. 2025
  • All of these films have been heavily influenced by 20th century pulp fiction writers, but for his latest movie, Black goes directly to the source, adapting one of the genre’s key figures for an action-comedy as offbeat, idiosyncratic, and entertaining as any Black has made.
    Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Kirk was a prolific podcaster, known for debating and defending his conservative, Christian values on the show.
    Stephanie Murray, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Even if a dissenting perspective isn’t correct or better, dissent brings different views to the fore so that they can be debated, and that improves and sharpens arguments, options and outcomes.
    Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • But those who study the stars say this is a fact long known by ancient astronomers, and the disconnect is essentially an intentional feature of the zodiac, not a bug.
    N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Advertisement You were born in China and studied at Tsinghua and then Stanford and then worked in Silicon Valley.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 28 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Israel Defense Forces’ chief of staff, Maj Gen Eyal Zamir, adamantly opposed the latest decision to take over Gaza City, and questioned the high-risk operation targeting Hamas leadership in Qatar.
    Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Some have questioned the logic of building an artificial surf lagoon so close to the ocean.
    Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Ponder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponder. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.

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