English idiom

a penny for your thoughts

Register · Informal CEFR C1

Post

Figurative meaning

A friendly way of asking what someone is quietly thinking about.

Why this phrase?

Offers a small coin in exchange for hearing someone's private thoughts.

Example

“You've gone very quiet; a penny for your thoughts?”

Recorded usage

These full forms were measured in COCA in 2016–2017. Counts apply to the quoted form, not every use of this idiom; overlapping forms are not added together.

“A penny for your thoughts!” — 9 recorded occurrences

Grouped source variants; editorially classified here as an idiom. Usage counts are separate from CEFR difficulty.

Dictionary details

Tags

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

brain power

intelligence or mental ability used to think and solve problems

come to mind

to appear in one's thoughts or memory

food for thought

an idea or piece of information worth thinking carefully about

think twice

to reconsider an action carefully before doing it

get one's thoughts together

to calm down and organize your thinking before acting or speaking

go without saying

to be so obvious that it does not need to be stated

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

External links

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