Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or character of being pensive; gloomy thoughtfulness; melancholy; seriousness from depressed spirits.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being pensive; serious thoughtfulness; seriousness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
thoughtful orreflective state, especially ifsad ormelancholic .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun persistent morbid meditation on a problem
- noun deep serious thoughtfulness
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pensiveness.
Examples
-
The travellers remained, for some time, in a state of tranquil pensiveness, which is not unpleasing.
-
The travellers remained, for some time, in a state of tranquil pensiveness, which is not unpleasing.
The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Ward Radcliffe 1793
-
His feeling is so deep, and so unexaggerated, that it is a profoundly subtle interpreter of life to him, and the pensiveness which throws such a mellow sombreness upon his imagination is only the pensiveness which is the shadow of extreme beauty.
Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis George William Curtis 1858
-
"Probably," he mused, with that idle pensiveness which is the lazy man's apology to himself for not thinking, "the thing which would surprise them most would be to see how much they held in common.
Flint His Faults, His Friendships and His Fortunes Maud Wilder Goodwin
-
Browne, or the acute sobriety of Shaftesbury, for any of that poetic pensiveness which is strong in Vauvenargues, and reaches tragic heights in Pascal. [
Critical Miscellanies (Vol 2 of 3) Essay 1: Vauvenargues John Morley 1880
-
But Powell's Claire has a screechy perkiness that becomes a little monotonous: A few more hints of ambivalence or pensiveness might go a long way toward fixing the production's tonal imbalance.
1st Stage's 'Fuddy Meers': Long on laughs, short on meaning 2011
-
I can't say exactly when his pensiveness and dry humor turned unresponsive, or his thoughtful reflection ceased to take concrete form in vibrant conversation and repartee.
Susan J. Cobb: Remembering My Dad Before Alzheimer's Susan J. Cobb 2010
-
I can't say exactly when his pensiveness and dry humor turned unresponsive, or his thoughtful reflection ceased to take concrete form in vibrant conversation and repartee.
Susan J. Cobb: Remembering My Dad Before Alzheimer's Susan J. Cobb 2010
-
I can't say exactly when his pensiveness and dry humor turned unresponsive, or his thoughtful reflection ceased to take concrete form in vibrant conversation and repartee.
Susan J. Cobb: Remembering My Dad Before Alzheimer's Susan J. Cobb 2010
-
I can't say exactly when his pensiveness and dry humor turned unresponsive, or his thoughtful reflection ceased to take concrete form in vibrant conversation and repartee.
Susan J. Cobb: Remembering My Dad Before Alzheimer's Susan J. Cobb 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.