PROFOUND

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does profound mean? 

• PROFOUND (adjective)
  The adjective PROFOUND has 6 senses:

1. showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth

2. of the greatest intensity; complete

3. far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the nature of something

4. coming from deep within one

5. (of sleep) deep and complete

6. situated at or extending to great depth; too deep to have been sounded or plumbed

  Familiarity information: PROFOUND used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROFOUND (adjective)

Comparative: profounder   
Superlative: profoundest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth

Context example:

profound regret

Similar:

deep (marked by depth of thinking)

thoughtful (having intellectual depth)

Also:

intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)

scholarly (characteristic of scholars or scholarship)

Antonym:

superficial (concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually)

Derivation:

profoundness (intellectual depth; penetrating knowledge; keen insight; etc)

profoundness (the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas)

profoundness (extremeness of degree)

profundity (intellectual depth; penetrating knowledge; keen insight; etc)

profundity (the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas)

profundity (wisdom that is recondite and abstruse and profound)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of the greatest intensity; complete

Context example:

a state of profound shock

Similar:

intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)

Derivation:

profoundness (extremeness of degree)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the nature of something

Synonyms:

fundamental; profound

Context example:

profound social changes

Similar:

important; significant (important in effect or meaning)

Derivation:

profoundness (wisdom that is recondite and abstruse and profound)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Coming from deep within one

Context example:

a profound sigh

Similar:

deep (relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply)

Derivation:

profoundness (extremeness of degree)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(of sleep) deep and complete

Synonyms:

heavy; profound; sound; wakeless

Context example:

deep wakeless sleep

Similar:

deep (relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply)

Derivation:

profoundness (extremeness of degree)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Situated at or extending to great depth; too deep to have been sounded or plumbed

Synonyms:

profound; unfathomed; unplumbed; unsounded

Context example:

remote and unsounded caverns

Similar:

deep (having great spatial extension or penetration downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or laterally or outward from a center; sometimes used in combination)

Derivation:

profoundness; profundity (the quality of being physically deep)

 Context examples 

Her faint became a profound slumber.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He sat down, looking intently at me, and listened in profound silence to all I had to tell.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The gray of earth and sky had become deeper, more profound.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This, however, was a profound secret, not to be breathed beyond their own circle.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

These functions have a profound effect on angiogenesis and tissue regeneration.

(HGF wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

But there are characteristics beyond the level of the individual – such as attributes of the communities in which we live – that can also have a profound effect on mental well-being.

(Depression - men far more at risk than women in deprived areas, University of Cambridge)

That line stirred him with a profound feeling of gratitude.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I remain, Sir, with assurances of profound respect, yours very truly, EDWARD D. MALONE.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes was sunk in profound thought, and hardly opened his mouth until we had passed Clapham Junction.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)