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pensive

2 syllables
adjective
Quick answer

As an adjective, pensive means having the appearance of deep, often melancholic, thinking.

Meanings of pensive

4 meanings

adjective

  1. Having the appearance of deep, often melancholic, thinking.

  2. Looking thoughtful, especially from sadness.

  3. Deeply or seriously thoughtful

    “Byron lives on not only in his poetry, but also in his creation of the ‘Byronic hero’ - the persona of a brooding melancholy young man”

    Similar: brooding, broody, contemplative, meditative, musing, pondering

  4. Showing pensive sadness

    “the sensitive and wistful response of a poet to the gentler phases of beauty”

    Similar: wistful

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

Synonyms by meaning

All synonyms for pensive →
adjective: deeply or seriously thoughtful
broodingbroodycontemplativemeditativemusingponderingreflectiveruminative
adjective: showing pensive sadness
wistful

Words that rhyme with pensive

All rhymes →
expensiveoffensivedefensiveextensiveintensivecomprehensiveapprehensiveinexpensivecounteroffensivehypertensiveinoffensive

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Nearby words

pennywortpenologypensionpension offpensionarypensionerpensivenesspenstockpentpentaclepentadpentagon