pensive
Use Pensive in a sentence
sɪv 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; < French (feminine); replacing Middle English pensif < Middle French (masculine), derivative of penser to think < Latin pēnsāre to weigh, consider, derivative of pēnsus, past participle of pendere. See pension, -ive
1325–75; < French (feminine); replacing Middle English pensif < Middle French (masculine), derivative of penser to think < Latin pēnsāre to weigh, consider, derivative of pēnsus, past participle of pendere. See pension, -ive
Related forms
pen·sive·ly, adverb
pen·sive·ness, noun
o·ver·pen·sive, adjective
o·ver·pen·sive·ly, adverb
o·ver·pen·sive·ness, noun
Synonyms
1. P ensive , meditative , reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. P ensive , the weakest of the three, suggests dreaminess or wistfulness, and may involve little or no thought to any purpose: a pensive, faraway look. M editative 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. R eflective has a strong implication of orderly, perhaps analytic, processes of thought, usually with a definite goal of understanding: a careful and reflective critic.
1. P ensive , meditative , reflective suggest quiet modes of apparent or real thought. P ensive , the weakest of the three, suggests dreaminess or wistfulness, and may involve little or no thought to any purpose: a pensive, faraway look. M editative 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. R eflective 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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To pensive
00:10
Pensive
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
pensive (ˈpɛnsɪv) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | deeply or seriously thoughtful, often with a tinge of sadness |
| 2. | expressing or suggesting pensiveness |
| [C14: from Old French pensif, from penser to think, from Latin pensāre to consider; compare | |
| 'pensively | |
| —adv | |
| 'pensiveness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pensive
mid-14c., 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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
In pensive solitude, he wrote the poems; in the steamy chaos of the kitchen, his womenfolk made the poems possible.
And it has almost nothing in common with the pensive, sprawling supernatural narrative that follows.
But the film, while pensive enough to hint at these things, isn't so morose that it cares to dwell on them.
Darwin may have been that kind of contemplative and pensive antiauthoritarian.
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