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pondering 1 of 2

noun

as in contemplation

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pondering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of ponder
as in contemplating
to give serious and careful thought to I'm pondering whether or not I should join another committee

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 pondering
Noun
All 50 years of craft, thought, thematic pondering — everything. — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 3 Jan. 2026
Verb
There’s plenty Duren could be pondering in regard to his value to the team as a whole. — Hunter Patterson, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026 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 Instead, the fast-casual restaurant chain's CEO and co-founder woke up pondering the country's ongoing cyclospora outbreak. — Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2026 One lucky Maryland resident might be pondering that after becoming the state's third $1 million winner in the past two weeks. — Michelle Richardson, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 Engineers spent months pondering the approach in late 2025 and early 2026, when the only antenna that was able to communicate with Voyager 2 was down for repair anyway. — Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2026 Lupoi isn’t a guy who spends his evenings pondering philosophy or splitting atoms. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026 Blumstein came up with the idea for the OnlyFans account while sitting in a meadow, waiting for marmots to appear and pondering the state of scientific funding for his work. — Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pondering
  1. contemplation
  2. contemplating
  3. thought
  4. debating
  5. meditation
  6. considering
  7. consideration
  8. studying
Noun
  • What interests me in Zumthor’s architecture is not simply beauty or contemplation.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Yet Na also insists on treating his aliens as objects of contemplation and pathos—reflections of our own misshapen humanity.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of contemplation
Verb
  • 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, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of contemplating
Noun
  • For one thing covetousness, as opposed to the more concrete sins like theft or murder or adultery, is a thought crime, and almost all that goes on here, happens within the minds of the characters.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Halftime thoughts The Hurricanes go into halftime with a 28-6 lead on Stanford.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of thought
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
Noun
  • This touchiness can extend to meditation researchers, most of whom are meditators themselves; academic meetings Britton attended would sometimes kick off with a meditation.
    — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of meditation
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
Noun
  • The Giants might get something like cash considerations, a player to be named later or perhaps a teenager who is a half-decade away from even thinking about the majors.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Although no performance figures have been given, the metrics should be impressive—bolstered by carbon-fiber aero considerations developed by another English outfit, Artiglio Automotive Studio.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of consideration
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

Browse Nearby Words

pondered
pondering
ponderous
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Cite this Entry

“Pondering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pondering. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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