Difference between Brooding and Pensive

BROODING vs PENSIVE: NOUN

Sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body
The process of sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body; -- mostly used of birds.
A spell of brooding; the time when someone broods.
Persistent morbid meditation on a problem

Showing pensive sadness
Engaged in deep and serious thought.
Showing or expressing deep, often melancholy thought.
Thoughtful, sober, or sad; employed in serious reflection; given to, or favorable to, earnest or melancholy musing.
Expressing or suggesting thoughtfulness with sadness.
Having the appearance of deep, often melancholic, thinking.
Looking thoughtful, especially from sadness.
Deeply or seriously thoughtful
Persistently or morbidly thoughtful

Pondering; thinking deeply; disposed to ponder or think deeply: as, a brooding disposition.
Settled; rooted; fixed in the heart: a figurative use derived from the steadfastness with which a bird sits on her eggs.
Sitting, as a bird on her eggs: as, a brooding hen.
Warming: as, “the brooding heat,”

Synonyms Meditative, reflective, sober.
Expressing thoughtfulness with sadness; betokening or conducive to thoughtful or earnest musing.
Engaged in serious thought or reflection; given to earnest musing: often implying some degree of anxiety, depression, or gloom; thoughtful and somewhat melancholy.

Daydreaming, Moody, Oviparous, Incubation, Hatching, Pondering, Reflective, Thoughtful, Musing, Meditative, Broody, Contemplative, Ruminative, Pensiveness, Pensive

Introspective, Melancholy, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Pondering, Sad, Musing, Reflective, Broody, Thoughtful, Meditative, Ruminative, Brooding, Contemplative, Wistful

Daydreaming, Moody, Oviparous, Incubation, Hatching, Pondering, Reflective, Thoughtful, Musing, Meditative, Broody, Contemplative, Ruminative, Pensiveness, Pensive

Introspective, Melancholy, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Pondering, Sad, Musing, Reflective, Broody, Thoughtful, Meditative, Ruminative, Brooding, Contemplative, Wistful

Pensive Face, but with a sadder, more hurt expression.
Image: Pensive young woman holding smart phone at workplace.
Proctor, is engaged in pensive selfreflection regarding his life.
Len nodded, his own expression calmer, more pensive.
Now Tom could see his face: pensive, withdrawn.
Fr: My leasure serves me pensive daughter now.
But why so pensive, my good master Fox?
The Governor General found him pensive and sad.
The audience will long remember that pensive night.
It can also refer to any pensive or reflective poem that is nostalgic or melancholy, or to a short, pensive musical composition.