profound
Americanadjective
-
penetrating or entering deeply into subjects of thought or knowledge; having deep insight or understanding.
a profound thinker.
- Antonyms:
- superficial, shallow
-
originating in or penetrating to the depths of one's being: profound grief.
-
being or going far beneath what is superficial, external, or obvious.
profound insight.
-
of deep meaning; of great and broadly inclusive significance.
a profound book.
-
pervasive or intense; thorough; complete.
a profound silence.
-
extending, situated, or originating far down, or far beneath the surface.
the profound depths of the ocean.
-
bending or passing far downward; low.
a profound bow.
adjective
-
penetrating deeply into subjects or ideas
a profound mind
-
showing or requiring great knowledge or understanding
a profound treatise
-
situated at or extending to a great depth
-
reaching to or stemming from the depths of one's nature
profound regret
-
intense or absolute
profound silence
-
thoroughgoing; extensive
profound changes
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of profound
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin profundus “deep, vast,” equivalent to pro- pro- 1 + fundus “bottom” ( see found 1)
Explanation
When you need a word that's deeper than "deep," consider profound. A philosopher is likely to make many profound pronouncements. Profundus literally means "deep" in Latin, and profound had the same meaning when it entered English in the 14th century. But even then, it also meant "figuratively deep" — that is, very great or intense: "The new laws have had a profound impact." Of people, it means "very knowledgeable or insightful," but sometimes when a person tries to sound profound, they're really just giving you superficial knowledge dressed up with big words.
Vocabulary lists containing profound
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
What happens to a child who grows up with a parent struggling with the consequences of profound trauma, and what does it mean for the child’s well-being?
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
To feel safe enough to reflect, to speak honestly, and to be truly heard is a profound gift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Words cannot begin to express the profound sorrow I feel that a service we designed to bring people happiness and joy has been abused to cause harm.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Again and again, the young people we speak to express a profound distrust of the police.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
I walk down the hall to her room, picturing her opening the envelope, expecting something profound and deep.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
But Jarecki seems to want more, something deeper and profounder.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 19, 2018
“And it’s having a much profounder effect than I conceived could happen.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2011
He deserves such tributes, but there is a profounder, truer explanation for the wonder he excites.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2010
Or, as Frank notes while dealing with a particularly difficult couple in Independence Day, “a profounder text runs beneath all realty decisions.”
From Newsweek
For, in the precedence of study of other sciences more remote from man’s “business and bosom,” there has been rendered possible a more dispassionate treatment of matters charged with profounder issues.
From Pioneers of Evolution from Thales to Huxley With an Intermediate Chapter on the Causes of Arrest of the Movement by Edward Clodd
Perhaps the stage of life that play can have its profoundest impact is towards the end.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2022
Photography’s profoundest limitation is its mechanistic nature, which can bind it to a literalness and a brittle understanding of time.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2021
The cameraphone is enacting the profoundest change to our experience of art in a century — and yet we still talk about photography with language as old as the Kodak Colorsnap.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2019
They represent the nation’s id, or, in the profoundest sense, its underclass, and Marxists and Freudians alike will have years of fun with this movie.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 22, 2019
It was an odd manuscript; in the midst of the profoundest personal tragedy, sinking into economic ruin, he wrote brilliantly funny columns.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
