The meaning of PENSIVE is musingly or dreamily thoughtful. How to use pensive in a sentence.

PENSIVE definition: dreamily or wistfully thoughtful. See examples of pensive used in a sentence.

PENSIVE definition: 1. thinking in a quiet way, often with a serious expression on your face: 2. thinking in a quiet…. Learn more.

If you are pensive, you are thinking deeply about something, especially something that worries you slightly. He looked suddenly sombre, pensive.

There are six meanings listed in OED's entry for the word pensive, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

thinking deeply about something, especially because you are sad or worried. She sat with a pensive expression on her face. Definition of pensive adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's …

1. Engaged in deep and serious thought. 2. Showing or expressing deep, often melancholy thought: a pensive look.

pensive (adjective) pensive / ˈ pɛnsɪv/ adjective Britannica Dictionary definition of PENSIVE [more pensive; most pensive] : quietly sad or thoughtful

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 …

Jan 2, 2026 · pensive (comparative more pensive, superlative most pensive) Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought.