adjective
- dreamily or wistfully thoughtful: a pensive mood.
- expressing or revealing thoughtfulness, usually marked by some sadness: a pensive adagio.
adjective
- deeply or seriously thoughtful, often with a tinge of sadness
- expressing or suggesting pensiveness
adj.late 14c., from Old French pensif “thoughtful, distracted, musing” (11c.), from penser “to think,” from Latin pensare “weigh, consider,” frequentative of pendere “weigh” (see pendant). Related: Pensively; pensiveness.