pensive

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈpɛnsɪv/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈpɛnsɪv/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(pensiv)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
pen•sive /ˈpɛnsɪv/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. dreamily thoughtful;
    thinking deeply or sadly:He was pensive, looking out the window, thinking about her.
pen•sive•ly, adv.: gazing pensively out the window.See -pend-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
pen•sive  (pensiv),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. dreamily or wistfully thoughtful:a pensive mood.
  2. expressing or revealing thoughtfulness, usually marked by some sadness:a pensive adagio.
  • Latin pēnsāre to weigh, consider, derivative of pēnsus, past participle of pendere. See pension, -ive
  • Middle French (masculine), derivative of penser to think
  • French (feminine); replacing Middle English pensif
  • 1325–75
pensive•ly, adv. 
pensive•ness, n. 
    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged 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.See corresponding entry in Unabridged thoughtless.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
pensive / ˈpɛnsɪv/
  1. deeply or seriously thoughtful, often with a tinge of sadness
  2. expressing or suggesting pensiveness
Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French pensif, from penser to think, from Latin pensāre to consider; compare pension1ˈpensivelyˈpensiveness
'pensive' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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