#1 brooding s. [broody, contemplative, meditative, musing, pensive, pondering, reflective, ruminative] deeply or seriously thoughtful; "Byron lives on not only in his poetry, but also in his creation of the 'Byronic hero' - the persona of a brooding melancholy young man";. wn #2 brooding n. [incubation] sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body. wn #3 brooding n. [pensiveness] persistent morbid meditation on a problem. wn