Meaning & use
ponder
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Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To think about a question or problem slowly and thoroughly, weighing different possibilities.
Grammar: Can take an object or a question word (ponder the offer; ponder what to do) or be followed by over or on.
Patterns
- ponder something
- ponder over something
- ponder whether to do something
She pondered the job offer for a week before replying.
He sat by the window, pondering what to say to his brother.
I have been pondering whether to move closer to the city.
Word forms
| third person singular | ponders |
|---|---|
| past tense | pondered |
| past participle | pondered |
| -ing form | pondering |
Common combinations
- ponder the question
- The class paused to ponder the question.
- ponder the future
- Graduates often ponder the future with mixed feelings.
- ponder over
- He pondered over the letter for hours.
- sit and ponder
- I like to sit and ponder after a long walk.
- ponder the meaning of
- Philosophers have long pondered the meaning of freedom.
Synonyms and how they differ
- consider
- Consider is the everyday, neutral choice, whereas ponder implies longer and more reflective thought.
- contemplate
- Contemplate suggests quiet, sometimes almost dreamlike attention, and can also mean thinking seriously about doing something.
- mull over
- Mull over is informal and suggests turning an idea around in your mind casually, while ponder sounds more serious.
- muse
- Muse points to absent-minded, wandering thought, with less focus on reaching a decision than ponder.
Opposites
Word family
- ponderous adjective
- slow and heavy, or dull and labored
- ponderously adverb
- in a slow, heavy way
- ponderer noun
- a person who thinks deeply
- ponderable adjective
- able to be weighed or thought about
Commonly confused: ponder or wonder?
ponder vs wonder
Wonder means to be curious or unsure about something, often briefly, while ponder means to think hard about it for some time.
Practice
Which sentence best shows the meaning of ponder?
Choose one answer.
Ponder means to think carefully, and only option 1 describes thoughtful deliberation. The others use it as a physical action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ponder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.