Synonyms for musing
- noun
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Rumination — thought, meditation, contemplation
rumination, contemplation, reflection, thought, thinking, meditation, deliberation, reflexion, consideration, thoughtfulness
Other
reverie, abstraction, pre-occupation, brown study dated
Adjective
1. Pensive
pensive, pondering, reflective, contemplative, ruminative, wistful, brooding, meditative, thoughtful, broody, cogitabund formal dated
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
thought, meditation, contemplation
daydreaming or imaginative musings
- adj. 1
Absorbed in thought; contemplative
Forms
- Plural
- musings → ruminations, contemplations, reflections, thoughts…
Example sentences
- reflection Theater is humanity's active reflection on itself.
- meditation Mari calls her library room her "meditation room."
- contemplation A trivial problem doesn't require long contemplation.
- rumination Rumination is an important stage of making decisions.
- reverie It's a psychedelic reverie of patterns and colors.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| musing | rising | |
| reflection | rising | |
| meditation | rising | |
| contemplation | steady | |
| rumination | rising | |
| reverie | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- absent2, broody2
- 7 letters
- thought1, wistful2, reverie3, pensive2
- 8 letters
- thinking2, brooding2
- 9 letters
- pondering3, reflexion
- 10 letters
- reflection3, meditation4, thoughtful2, reflective3, meditative4, abstracted3, rumination4, ruminative, cogitabund
- 11 letters
- abstraction3, preoccupied4
- 12 letters
- deliberation5
- 13 letters
- consideration5, contemplation4, contemplative4
- 14 letters
- thoughtfulness3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (absent2 = 2 syllables).