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Definition of pensive - 4 dictionary results
pen⋅sive
[pen-siv] 
–adjective
| 1. | dreamily or wistfully thoughtful: a pensive mood. |
| 2. | expressing or revealing thoughtfulness, usually marked by some sadness: a pensive adagio. |
Origin:
1325–75; < F (fem.); r. ME pensif < MF (masc.), deriv. of penser to think < L pēnsāre to weigh, consider, deriv. of pēnsus, ptp. of pendere. See pension, -ive
1325–75; < F (fem.); r. ME pensif < MF (masc.), deriv. of penser to think < L pēnsāre to weigh, consider, deriv. of pēnsus, ptp. of pendere. See pension, -ive
Related forms:
pen⋅sive⋅ly, adverb
pen⋅sive⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. Pensive, meditative, reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. Pensive, the weakest of the three, suggests dreaminess or wistfulness, and may involve little or no thought to any purpose: a pensive, faraway look. Meditative involves thinking of certain facts or phenomena, perhaps in the religious sense of “contemplation,” without necessarily having a goal of complete understanding or of action: meditative but unjudicial. Reflective has a strong implication of orderly, perhaps analytic, processes of thought, usually with a definite goal of understanding: a careful and reflective critic.
1. Pensive, meditative, reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. Pensive, the weakest of the three, suggests dreaminess or wistfulness, and may involve little or no thought to any purpose: a pensive, faraway look. Meditative involves thinking of certain facts or phenomena, perhaps in the religious sense of “contemplation,” without necessarily having a goal of complete understanding or of action: meditative but unjudicial. Reflective has a strong implication of orderly, perhaps analytic, processes of thought, usually with a definite goal of understanding: a careful and reflective critic.
Antonyms:
1. thoughtless.
1. thoughtless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To pensive
| pen·sive (pěn'sĭv) adj.
[Middle English pensif, from Old French, from penser, to think, from Latin pēnsāre, frequentative of pendere, to weigh; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.] pen'sive·ly adv., pen'sive·ness n. Synonyms: These adjectives mean characterized by or disposed to thought, especially serious or deep thought. Pensive often connotes a wistful, dreamy, or sad quality: "while pensive poets painful vigils keep" (Alexander Pope). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Pensive
Pen"sive\, a. [F. pensif, fr. penser to think, fr. L. pensare to weigh, ponder, consider, v. intens. fr. pendere to weigh. See Pension, Poise.]1. Thoughtful, sober, or sad; employed in serious reflection; given to, or favorable to, earnest or melancholy musing. The pensive secrecy of desert cell. --Milton. Anxious cares the pensive nymph oppressed. --Pope. 2. Expressing or suggesting thoughtfulness with sadness; as, pensive numbers. --Prior.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pensive
Spanish:
pensativo,
German:
gedankenvoll,
Japanese:
物思いにふける
pensive
1362, from O.Fr. pensif (11c., fem. pensive), from penser "to think," from L. pensare "weigh, consider," freq. of pendere "weigh" (see pendant).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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