How to Use contemplate in a Sentence

contemplate

verb
  • I'd like some time to just sit and contemplate.
  • He contemplated the meaning of the poem for a long time.
  • She stood and quietly contemplated the scene that lay before her.
  • Like, that’s not a nice thing to contemplate.
    — Jack Dunn, Variety, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Like, that's not a nice thing to contemplate.
    — Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
  • That's not a nice thing to contemplate.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Jan. 2026
  • There is no time to sit back and contemplate even for a moment.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2021
  • And that gives me a great deal of pleasure to contemplate that.
    — Steve Baltin, Forbes, 14 Aug. 2022
  • Please contemplate the heft of these two regions.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 16 Jan. 2026
  • That is a cue for the rest of us to start to look forward, and contemplate what comes next.
    — Joel Mathis, TheWeek, 24 Nov. 2020
  • Few players have the skills to even contemplate such a goal, let alone the drive to achieve it.
    — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Bell helped Williams contemplate that shift.
    — Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Dec. 2025
  • The idea that consumer taxes would be one of them is hard to contemplate.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Stay tuned to see what the denizens of late night are able to do with a little more time to contemplate.
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Aug. 2020
  • Few of us have contemplated what a world without deer would look like.
    — Erika Howsare, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2023
  • That may still be too painful for a lot of Minnesotans to contemplate.
    — Patrick Condon, Star Tribune, 12 Sep. 2020
  • What better way to contemplate that question than with a film that does both?
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 July 2021
  • The film ends with Sergei contemplating his place in the world.
    — James Grebey, TIME, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Nobody’s ready to contemplate it in full.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 2 June 2026
  • Baker contemplated the life that has led him to this high point.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 4 Mar. 2026
  • At the time, the singer was at the end of a tour and contemplated going to the event.
    — Jessica Booth, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Now, though, golf may be forced to contemplate turning the page from the Tiger era.
    — Bill Pennington, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2021
  • The Phillies have their own issues to contemplate.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • There are a lot of things that come to mind when contemplating the future of fashion.
    — ELLE, 3 May 2023
  • The writer who contemplates his role as an artist in a seemingly dark world.
    — Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Kern Lima asks us to contemplate what the hiding has cost us.
    — Erin Jensen, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
  • First, a little more about why contemplating the cosmos can be so good for you.
    — Abbey Stone, SELF, 31 Oct. 2024
  • The move to contemplate housing foreign workers in cruise ships comes with a fair bit of irony.
    — Philip Heijmans, Bloomberg.com, 10 May 2020
  • Lynn Conway faced more challenges in her life than most of us can contemplate.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
  • Deacon clatters off in his truck, leaving me to contemplate my new home.
    — Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contemplate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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