pensive

Etymology

From French pensif (“thoughtful”), from penser (“to think”) (from Latin pēnsō) + -if (English -ive).

adj

  1. Having the appearance of deep, often melancholic, thinking.
  2. Looking thoughtful, especially from sadness.
    Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 4
    Through the deep grass the faces of the three children glowed like pensive moons. 1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 21

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