THOUGHTFUL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does thoughtful mean? 

• THOUGHTFUL (adjective)
  The adjective THOUGHTFUL has 5 senses:

1. having intellectual depth

2. exhibiting or characterized by careful thought

3. acting with or showing thought and good sense

4. taking heed; giving close and thoughtful attention

5. considerate of the feelings or well-being of others

  Familiarity information: THOUGHTFUL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THOUGHTFUL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having intellectual depth

Context example:

a deeply thoughtful essay

Similar:

profound (showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exhibiting or characterized by careful thought

Context example:

a thoughtful paper

Similar:

bemused; lost; preoccupied (deeply absorbed in thought)

brooding; broody; contemplative; meditative; musing; pensive; pondering; reflective; ruminative (deeply or seriously thoughtful)

cogitative (given to cogitation)

well thought out (resulting from careful thought)

deliberative (involved in or characterized by deliberation and discussion and examination)

excogitative (concerned with excogitating or having the power of excogitation)

Also:

considerate (showing concern for the rights and feelings of others)

Attribute:

thoughtfulness (the trait of thinking carefully before acting)

Antonym:

thoughtless (showing lack of careful thought)

Derivation:

thoughtfulness (a calm, lengthy, intent consideration)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Acting with or showing thought and good sense

Synonyms:

serious-minded; thoughtful

Context example:

a sensible young man

Similar:

serious (concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities)

Derivation:

thoughtfulness (a considerate and thoughtful act)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Taking heed; giving close and thoughtful attention

Synonyms:

attentive; heedful; paying attention; thoughtful

Context example:

heedful of what they were doing

Attribute:

attentiveness; heed; paying attention; regard (paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people))

Derivation:

thoughtfulness (the trait of thinking carefully before acting)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Considerate of the feelings or well-being of others

Similar:

considerate (showing concern for the rights and feelings of others)

Derivation:

thoughtfulness (kind and considerate regard for others)

 Context examples 

“Peggotty,” I said in a thoughtful whisper, one evening, when I was warming my hands at the kitchen fire, Mr. Murdstone likes me less than he used to.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I cannot call them handsome—they were too pale and grave for the word: as they each bent over a book, they looked thoughtful almost to severity.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They were both silent: Mrs Smith very thoughtful.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

After watching her a little, Fitzwilliam asked her why she was so thoughtful.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

If Alleyne Edricson had enough to ponder over as he rode through the bare plains of Guienne, his two companions were more busy with the present and less thoughtful of the future.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He listened to them, and when he became aware of what they were saying, he grew very thoughtful and sad.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But then, with a more thoughtful air and lowered voice, there is no saying what it may lead to.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Very thoughtful of Colonel Campbell, was not it?

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

No more would Sir John, nor my daughters, for they are all very thoughtful and considerate; especially if I give them a hint, as I certainly will.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of good men—even if there are monsters in it.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)