thoughtful

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈθɔtfəl/ UK /ˈθɔːtfəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #6840

Meanings

1

adj
Showing kindness and care for what other people need or feel.

It was very thoughtful of you to bring her some flowers.
2

adj
Thinking carefully and seriously about something.

She gave a thoughtful answer to the difficult question.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing kindness and care... attentive caring considerate

2 adj · thinking carefully and... careful contemplative pensive

More cogitative introspectiveobservativethoughty

Opposites

thoughtless

Word family

Derived forms thoughtfully thoughtfulness

Related forms sensitive solemn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

thoughtful essay
an essay that shows careful and serious consideration of its subject

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English thoȝtful, thohtful, equivalent to thought + -ful. Compare Dutch gedachtenvol, Swedish tankfull.

thoȝtful Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# thoughtful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈθɔtfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈθɔːtfəl/
**Frequency rank:** 6840

## Meanings
1. Showing kindness and care for what other people need or feel.
2. Thinking carefully and seriously about something.

## Examples
- It was very thoughtful of you to bring her some flowers.
- She gave a thoughtful answer to the difficult question.

## Synonyms
- attentive
- careful
- caring
- cogitative
- considerate
- contemplative
- introspective
- observative
- pensive
- thoughty

## Antonyms
- thoughtless

## Derived Forms
- thoughtfully
- thoughtfulness

## Related Forms
- sensitive
- solemn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: thoȝtful

## Etymology
From Middle English thoȝtful, thohtful, equivalent to thought + -ful. Compare Dutch gedachtenvol, Swedish tankfull.

## AI Etymology
Thoughtful is from Middle English thoȝtful, thohtful, equivalent to thought + -ful. Compare Dutch gedachtenvol, Swedish tankfull. The historical line also includes Middle English thoȝtful. In present-day use, it can mean showing kindness and care for what other people need or feel, or thinking carefully and seriously about something. Derived formations include thoughtfully, thoughtfulness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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