How to Use pensive in a Sentence

pensive

adjective

• The child sat by himself, looking pensive.
• On the way to his car after the game, Baarns was pensive.
  — Kurt Streeter, New York Times, 6 June 2018
• There will be pensive looks out at the horizon, where the sharks are.
  — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 29 June 2017
• The pensive Mr Müller, 64, rarely had the air of a man enjoying the limelight.
  — The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
• Levin is long and thin, with an oval face, and a pensive manner.
  — Christopher Borrelli, chicagotribune.com, 7 June 2019
• The guys look pensive as the producers roll out clips of the wives fighting.
  — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Oct. 2021
• On the sideline, Raiders coach Brooks Bollinger was pensive.
  — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 3 June 2017
• The statue has his arms folded and one hand on his chin in a pensive mood.
  — James Weber, The Enquirer, 6 May 2023
• In the black and white photo, Charles and Harry beam down at an awake and very pensive Archie.
  — Katherine J Igoe, Marie Claire, 14 Nov. 2019
• But, in the days that followed, Quichotte was pensive and sad.
  — Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 22 July 2019
• Buttigieg said ending with a pensive close-up on the mayor’s face.
  — NBC News, 6 Nov. 2019
• With its dreamlike blues and grays, Sell By looks more pensive than gloomy.
  — Beandrea July, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 July 2019
• Here, Doyle’s prose reads like Lydia Davis at her most arch and pensive.
  — Annie Berke, Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2023
• At least the postgame locker room, where his smart and pensive answers the past month have brought perspective and calm to the team.
  — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 25 Feb. 2018
• But that too turns pensive, and the clock returns to business with the opening music.
  — New York Times, 22 Apr. 2020
• The former made for a neat closure; the latter provides a more open, pensive end.
  — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2019
• Is there any more to Zach than what meets the eye, or rather, the dramatic B-roll footage of him being pensive?
  — Olivia Evans, Women's Health, 13 Mar. 2023
• Her face is indeed long and pensive, and her smoker’s voice is as dry as her wit.
  — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2021
• In Thompson’s Life Goes On, two pensive young boys sit on stone steps that once led to a hillside home.
  — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 3 June 2021
• The actor sported a pensive expression while filming scenes for 1998's The Man in the Iron Mask.
  — Grace Gavilanes, Peoplemag, 11 Nov. 2022
• Between them stands a woman in a pensive pose, and on the left side of the trio is a smaller standing figure.
  — Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
• And not just about Mr. Levin’s pensive mood in Pontiac.
  — Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2022
• Something about the scale of the imagery used in his education did not sit well with the pensive teen.
  — Keyaira Boone, Essence, 20 Mar. 2022
• The visuals, directed by Alexandre Moors, match the pensive lyrics of the track.
  — Jeff Nelson, PEOPLE.com, 6 Sep. 2019
• Eakins might have pushed his look to an extreme, so some scholars have seen the figure as sad, pensive, and spent.
  — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 12 June 2021
• In the back of the pickup truck, perched on a couch with four of his grandsons, Chuck Morgan looked a bit pensive Saturday.
  — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 14 Aug. 2021
• Watching Calvo arrange the extras in the pit, Smit looked pensive and sad.
  — New York Times, 13 Dec. 2021
• Most of the painting, except for the King’s pensive face and hands, are detailed in an array of mottled reds and pinks.
  — Karen K. Ho, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
• The clips featured shots of Christine wiping tears and looking pensive before transitioning to happy photos of her wedding to David.
  — Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2024
• In this pensive personal essay, Jarod K. Anderson describes a life of constant to dos and responsibilities, of debt and burnout, of aimlessness and depression.
  — Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 11 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 9 Dec 2024