contemplative

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contemplative

  • /kənˈtɛmplətɪv/ UK
  • /ˈkɒntəmˌpleɪtɪv/ UK, rare
  • /ˈkɒntəmplətɪv/ UK
  • /kənˈtɛmplətɪv/ US
  • /ˈkɑntəmˌpleɪtɪv/ US, rare

Where it comes from

From Middle English contemplatyve, contemplatyf, from Old French contemplatif, from Latin contemplātīvus.

adjective more contemplative · most contemplative

  1. Inclined to contemplate; introspective and thoughtful; meditative. Compared with the greatest poets, he may be said to be the poet of unpoetical natures, possessed of quiet and contemplative tastes. But unpoetical natures are precisely those which require poetic cultivation. This cultivation Wordsworth is much more fitted to give, than poets who are intrinsically f
  2. Pertaining to a religious contemplative, or a contemplative religious orders, especially the Roman Catholic varieties. Whether the nuns of yore, being of a submissive rather than a stiff-necked generation, habitually bent their contemplative heads to avoid collision with the beams in the low ceilings of the many chambers of their House [...] may be matters of interest to its haunting ghosts (if any), but constitute
  3. Relating to, or having the power of, contemplation. contemplative faculties
  4. In a phase of mental activity in which one begins to recognize and acknowledge the maladaptiveness of someone's behavior (such as one's own, or that of a family member or friend); usually with reference to substance use.

Similar: attentive, calculant, cogitabund, contemplative, deliberative, intelligent, introspective, meditative, museful, musing, pensive, reflective, speculative, studious, thinkful, thinking, thoughty, thoughtful, wistful

noun contemplatives

  1. Someone who has dedicated themselves to religious or philosophical contemplation. Like the white page that surrounds the darkness of each letter you are reading here, eternity surrounds each heartbeat, and as the contemplative watches his breath, he can move out of time through the doorway which opens in the interval between each heartbeat.

Thesaurus

Translations

Every language

adj inclined to contemplate; introspective and thoughtful; meditative

Españolcontemplativo
हिन्दीध्यानशील dhyānśīl, ध्यानी dhyānī, मननशील mananśīl, विचारशील vicārśīl, चिंतनशील cintanśīl
Françaiscontemplatif
Deutschnachdenklich, kontemplativ
Italianocontemplativo
Românăcontemplativ, meditativ

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Cite this
MLA

"contemplative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/contemplative. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

contemplative. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/contemplative

Chicago

"contemplative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/contemplative.

BibTeX
@misc{contemplative_2026,
  title = {contemplative},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/contemplative},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}