profound

Syllables: pro·found/pɹəˈfaʊnd/

profound adjective: descending far below the surface; opening or reaching to great depth; deep.

Adjective

profound (comparative more profound or profounder, superlative most profound or profoundest)

Descending far below the surface; opening or reaching to great depth; deep.
- A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...
Very deep; very serious.
Intellectually deep; entering far into subjects; reaching to the bottom of a matter, or of a branch of learning; thorough.
- a profound investigation
- a profound scholar
Characterized by intensity; deeply felt; pervading.
- How now! which of your hips has the most profound sciatica?c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Of the profound corruption of this class there can be no doubt.1860, Henry Hart Milman, History of Latin Christianity : including that of the popes to the pontificate of Nicholas V.
Bending low, exhibiting or expressing deep humility; lowly; submissive.
- And with this, and a profound bow to his patrons, the Manager retires, and the curtain rises.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
- What humble gestures! What profound reverence!a. 1662, Brian Duppa, Holy Rules and Helps to Devotion, published 1683

Noun

profound (uncountable)

(obsolete) The deep; the sea; the ocean.
- God, in the fathomlesse profound / Hath all his choice Commanders drown'd.1638, George Sandys, A Paraphrase vpon the Divine Poems, Exodvs 15
(obsolete) An abyss.
- […]if some other place, / From your dominion won, th' Ethereal King / Possesses lately, thither to arrive / travel this profound. Direct my course[…]1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Verb

profound (third-person singular simple present profounds, present participle profounding, simple past and past participle profounded)

(obsolete) To cause to sink deeply; to cause to dive or penetrate far down.
(obsolete) To dive deeply; to penetrate.
- But no man is likely to profound tbe Ocean of that Doctrine1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC

profound meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

profound in Hindi

intellectually deep: गहन gahan

profound in Tamil

அளவிடற்கரிய, ஆழ்ந்த

profound in Marathi

profound: गंभीर gambhīr, खोल khol

profound in Urdu

عمیق, گہرا, متبحر

More languagesFewer languages

profound in Bengali: গহীন gohin, অগাধ ogadh
profound in Malayalam: ഗാഢമായ, അത്യഗാധമായ, തീവ്രമായ
profound in Kannada: ಗಹನವಾದ, ಗಂಭೀರವಾದ, ಗಾಢವಾದ, ಆಳವಾದ
profound in Punjabi: ਡੂੰਘਾ ḍūṅghā, ਗੂੜ੍ਹਾ gūṛhā
profound in Malay: mendalam
profound in Persian: عمیق 'amiq

Examples of profound in a sentence

Where no motives of interest or pride intervene, none can equal them for profound and philosophical views of society, ….1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, English Writers on America:
The most superficial phenomena are sometimes the most profound.1975, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital. 1848-1875, published 1995, page 270:
It’s probably one of the reasons the Shamima Begum case is having such a profound impact; one-dimensional stereotypes about Muslim women already run so deep.2019, Shelina Janmohamed, “Long before Shamima Begum, Muslim women were targets”, in Guardian:
Potters Bar and Heck, and the experiences had a profound effect on me - especially Ladbroke Grove.2023 September 20, Nigel Harris, “Comment Special: And it's goodbye from me...”, in RAIL, number 992, page 3:

All 40 example sentences with profound

Synonyms of profound

deep-grounded

Forms of profound

Adjective
comparative	more profound
comparative	profounder
superlative	most profound
superlative	profoundest
Verb
third-person singular present	profounds
present participle	profounding
past participle	profounded
past	profounded

Origin of profound

From Middle English profound, profounde, from Anglo-Norman profound, from Old French profont, profonde, from Latin profundus (“deep, profound”), from prō + fundus (“bottom; foundation”).

Words formed from profound

Words that rhyme with profound

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about profound

What does profound mean?: Profound means descending far below the surface; opening or reaching to great depth; deep.
What is profound in Hindi?: Profound in Hindi is गहन (gahan). See Profound meaning in Hindi.
How do you use profound in a sentence?: Where no motives of interest or pride intervene, none can equal them for profound and philosophical views of society, ….
What part of speech is profound?: Profound can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce profound?: Profound is pronounced /pɹəˈfaʊnd/.

Words near profound in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-profound.wav.

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