Word.ws English Dictionary

penny for them

penny for them is the alternative form of penny for your thoughts.

Meaning of penny for your thoughts

Phrase

penny for your thoughts

  1. (idiomatic) Used to inquire into the thoughts and feelings of another, especially when the person appears pensive or conflicted.
    • One day, as your ladyship was playing on the harpsichord to my master, Mr Jones was sitting in the next room, and methought he looked melancholy. La! says I, Mr Jones, what's the matter? a penny for your thoughts, says I.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter XIV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 106

Questions about penny for them

What is penny for them the alternative form of?
Penny for them is the alternative form of penny for your thoughts.

Words near penny for them in the dictionary

  1. penny dreadfuls
  2. penny fall
  3. penny falls
  4. penny farthing
  5. penny farthings
  6. penny for them
  7. penny for your thoughts
  8. penny gaff
  9. penny gaffe
  10. penny gaffes
  11. penny gaffs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penny for them (page history and authors); penny for your thoughts (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “penny for them.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penny_for_them. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.