profound
Formsprofounds, profounding, profounded
- 1Felt very deeply and strongly, affecting someone all the way through.
Like a feeling so big it seems to fill your whole body.
She felt a profound sense of relief when the test was over.
The whole town shared a profound joy on the day the soldiers came home.
Similardeep, intense, heartfelt, keen, great
Oppositeslight, mild, faint, superficial
Note
- 2Showing deep and complete understanding of a subject.
Like digging all the way to the bottom instead of just scratching the top.
She gave a profound reading of the difficult poem.
His answers showed a profound grasp of the whole topic.
Similardeep, insightful, penetrating, thorough, learned
Oppositesuperficial, shallow, facile, trivial
Note
- 3Very great, deep, or serious in its effect.
The new law brought profound changes to people's daily lives.
Losing the harvest was a profound blow to the small village.
Similarfar-reaching, major, significant, serious, great
Oppositeslight, minor, negligible, superficial
- 4Reaching very far down below the surface.
Like the bottom of the ocean, far down where light can't reach.
Divers explored the profound depths of the flooded cave.
A profound crack opened in the rock and dropped far down into darkness.
Similardeep, bottomless, yawning, cavernous
Oppositeshallow
Note
- 5
- 6The open sea or the huge, deep ocean.
The little ship sailed out into the boundless profound.
God, in the fathomlesse profound / Hath all his choice Commanders drown'd.
1638, George Sandys, A Paraphrase vpon the Divine PoemsHere, profound means the deep open sea.Note
- 7A deep, bottomless pit or empty space.
He leaned over the edge and peered into the yawning profound below.
The cavern opened onto a profound that no torch could light.
Note
- 8To make something sink deep or go far down.
Note
- 9To dive down deep, or to go far into something.
But no man is likely to profound tbe Ocean of that Doctrine
1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia EpidemicaHere, profound means to dive deep or go far into something.Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin profundus, meaning "deep," made from prō plus fundus, "bottom." It reached English through French.