Synonyms of ruminative

ruminative

adjective

as in melancholy

given to or marked by long, quiet thinking

a ruminative man, who contributed to discussions only after he had completely thought things through

Synonyms & Similar Words

• melancholy
• thoughtful
• reflective
• contemplative
• pensive
• meditative
• somber
• philosophical
• broody
• cogitative
• musing
• ruminant
• introspective
• solemn
• retrospective
• serious
• logical
• rational
• earnest
• preoccupied
• analytic
• self-reflective
• sedate
• deliberate
• sober
• serious-minded
• purposeful
• severe
• grave
• abstracted
• weighty
• absentminded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unreflective
• frivolous
• flippant
• goofy
• scatterbrained
• flighty
• thoughtless
• harebrained
• silly
• mindless
• unthinking
• brainless
• featherbrained
• light-headed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ruminative

The session has now become Burning Song, a ruminative album that reveals its quiet beauty layer by layer, like ocean water slowly breaking down rock. — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2026

Set on the eve of the Korean war, this ruminative story follows a midwestern family that’s fractured by a mother’s sudden disappearance. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2026

But the book’s ruminative watchfulness is unsuccessfully conjugated in this overly sedate play with music, which has the feel of a song cycle, though sung by the fine cast with gorgeous, lonely sorrow. — Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026

But as is fitting for a filmmaker pushing 80, awestruck innocence now co-exists with a more ruminative maturity, especially when touching on the secrecy, manipulation and deception of governmental power. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 June 2026

Lily Allen, Jack Whitehall and Timothy Spall also star in Tina Gharavi's SXSW London opener, which refashions Woolf's diffuse, ruminative feminist novel into a straightforwardly inspirational tale. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 June 2026

And keep in mind, Dosa’s film is a ruminative and poetic love letter to a glacier, so literally and figuratively super slow moving is the perfect rollout for a film like this. — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 3 June 2026

But nearly ten years on, as the world order unravels, the exhibition’s ruminative posture comes across as toothless and unfinished. — Horace D. Ballard, Artforum, 22 Apr. 2026

Documentarians Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, who also gave us the ruminative Nick Cave portrait 20,000 Days on Earth (2014), use this as an elaborate framing device, the sort of oddball choice that doesn’t feel necessary yet also doesn’t detract from the goal at hand. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2026