Idiom
penny for your thoughts
Meaning
Used to inquire into the thoughts and feelings of another, especially when the person appears pensive or conflicted.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You look quiet today, a penny for your thoughts?”
“She sat staring out the window for a long time, so I asked, a penny for your thoughts?”
“Noticing his distant expression as he gazed into the fire, she gently touched his arm and offered a penny for your thoughts.”
Examples
simple
“You look quiet today, a penny for your thoughts?”
contextual
“She sat staring out the window for a long time, so I asked, a penny for your thoughts?”
complex
“Noticing his distant expression as he gazed into the fire, she gently touched his arm and offered a penny for your thoughts.”
Origin
First recorded in Thomas More's Four Last Things (c. 1522).
Key words
Related idioms
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated