pensive
adjective
pen·sive
ˈpen(t)-siv 
1
: musingly or dreamily thoughtful
a pensive young poet
2
: suggestive of sad thoughtfulness
her face had the pensive mournfulness of a seraph in an old sad painting—
Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk
pensively
adverb
pensiveness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of pensive in a Sentence
… the combination of national crisis and imminent electoral victory creates an atmosphere at once pensive and elated.
—Yossi Klein Halevi, New Republic, 25 Dec. 2000
We take in the synchronized swimming of sardines and the pensive patrol of a leopard shark.
—Roger Rosenblatt, Time, 5 Oct. 1998
… did not seem depressed so much as pensive, and within a few minutes he was talking eagerly—in fact, unstoppably—about his favorite subject: school.
—James Traub, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 1994
The child sat by himself, looking pensive.
rainy days often put her in a pensive mood
Yossi Klein Halevi, New Republic, 25 Dec. 2000
We take in the synchronized swimming of sardines and the pensive patrol of a leopard shark.
—Roger Rosenblatt, Time, 5 Oct. 1998
… did not seem depressed so much as pensive, and within a few minutes he was talking eagerly—in fact, unstoppably—about his favorite subject: school.
—James Traub, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 1994
The child sat by himself, looking pensive.
rainy days often put her in a pensive mood
Recent Examples on the Web
The songs are muscular and syncretic as ever, but the normally peevish rapper doesn’t maintain his trolling energy for the full record, settling into a questioning and pensive pace.
—Stephen Kearse, TIME, 8 Dec. 2024
The main villain of the piece, Simba’s dreadful uncle Scar, is a superior bad guy, pensive and brooding rather than angry or shill.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Nov. 2024
The books have gotten longer and more pensive at the same time as they’ve been subjected to fewer cuts — witness the magnificently bloated 1Q84 (2011) or his most recent full-length novel, Killing Commendatore (2017).
—Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
The dog that appears in the movie is a Great Dane named Bing, who weighs 151 pounds and can look pensive on cue.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pensive 
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.
Stephen Kearse, TIME, 8 Dec. 2024
The main villain of the piece, Simba’s dreadful uncle Scar, is a superior bad guy, pensive and brooding rather than angry or shill.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Nov. 2024
The books have gotten longer and more pensive at the same time as they’ve been subjected to fewer cuts — witness the magnificently bloated 1Q84 (2011) or his most recent full-length novel, Killing Commendatore (2017).
—Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
The dog that appears in the movie is a Great Dane named Bing, who weighs 151 pounds and can look pensive on cue.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pensive
Dictionary Entries Near pensive
Cite this Entry
“Pensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pensive. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pensive
adjective
pen·sive
ˈpen(t)-siv
1
: dreamily thoughtful
2
: suggestive of sad thoughtfulness
pensively
adverb
pensiveness
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share