absent-minded

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Related to absent-minded: absent-mindedly

ab·sent-mind·ed

(ăb′sənt-mīn′dĭd)

adj.

Deep in thought and heedless of present circumstances or activities; preoccupied.

ab′sent-mind′ed·ly adv.

ab′sent-mind′ed·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

absent-minded

adj

preoccupied; forgetful; inattentive

ˌabsent-ˈmindedly adv

ˌabsent-ˈmindedness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ab′sent-mind′ed

or ab′sent•mind′ed,

adj.

preoccupied with one's thoughts so as to be unaware or forgetful of other matters.

[1850–55]

ab′sent-mind′ed•ly, adv.

ab′sent-mind′ed•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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absent-minded

adjective forgetful, absorbed, abstracted, vague, absent, distracted, unaware, musing, preoccupied, careless, bemused, oblivious, dreamy, faraway, engrossed, unthinking, neglectful, heedless, inattentive, unmindful, unheeding, apt to forget, in a brown study, ditzy or ditsy (slang) In his later life he became even more absent-minded.
alert, awake, wary, on the ball, vigilant, quick, perceptive, observant, wide-awake, on your toes

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

absent-minded

adjective

So lost in thought as to be unaware of one's surroundings:

absent, abstracted, bemused, distrait, faraway, inattentive, preoccupied.

Idiom: a million miles away.

Translations

absent-minded

[ˈæbsəntˈmaɪndɪd] ADJ (momentarily) → distraído, ausente; (habitually) → despistado, distraído
an absent-minded professor → un profesor despistado or distraído

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

absent-minded

adj (= lost in thought) → geistesabwesend; (= habitually forgetful) → zerstreut

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

absent-minded

[ˌæbs/əntˈmaɪndɪd] adj → distratto/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

absent

(ˈӕbsənt) adjective

not present. Johnny was absent from school with a cold.

(əbˈsent) verb

to keep (oneself) away. He absented himself from the meeting.

ˈabsence noun

1. the condition of not being present. His absence was noticed.

2. a time during which a person etc is not present. After an absence of five years he returned home.

ˌabsenˈtee noun

a person who is not present, especially frequently (eg at work, school etc).

ˌabsenˈteeism noun

being often absent from work etc without good reason. Absenteeism is a problem in some industries.

ˌabsent-ˈminded adjective

not noticing what is going on around one because one is thinking deeply. an absent-minded professor.

ˌabsentˈmindedly adverb

ˌabsent-ˈmindedness noun

absent-minded

→ شاَرِدُ الذِّهْن roztržitý åndsfraværende geistesabwesend αφηρημένος distraído hajamielinen étourdi odsutan duhom distratto ぼんやりした 멍한 verstrooid distré roztargniony distraído рассеянный tankspridd ใจลอย dalgın chểnh mảng 心不在焉

absent-minded

adj distraído, despistado

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

For nowadays, the whale-fishery furnishes an asylum for many romantic, melancholy, and absent-minded young men, disgusted with the carking cares of earth, and seeking sentiment in tar and blubber.

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So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty, amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite dog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and smaller than a mastiff."

As to the adjectives, I said, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded. It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who receives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London career for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his stick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room."

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The angles of a Square (and still more those of an equilateral Triangle), being much more pointed than those of a Pentagon, and the lines of inanimate objects (such as houses) being dimmer than the lines of Men and Women, it follows that there is no little danger lest the points of a square or triangular house residence might do serious injury to an inconsiderate or perhaps absent-minded traveller suddenly therefore, running against them: and as early as the eleventh century of our era, triangular houses were universally forbidden by Law, the only exceptions being fortifications, powder-magazines, barracks, and other state buildings, which it is not desirable that the general public should approach without circumspection.

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"Listen to me, you eternally absent-minded creature," said Moliere.

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Besides this he was absent-minded. When he rose to go, he took up instead of his own, the general's three-cornered hat, and held it, pulling at the plume, till the general asked him to restore it.

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Sometimes, after coming home thus late in a dark and muggy night, when my feet felt the path which my eyes could not see, dreaming and absent-minded all the way, until I was aroused by having to raise my hand to lift the latch, I have not been able to recall a single step of my walk, and I have thought that perhaps my body would find its way home if its master should forsake it, as the hand finds its way to the mouth without assistance.

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The little negro girl who worked Madame Lebrun's sewing-machine was sweeping the galleries with long, absent-minded strokes of the broom.

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They was still a minute -- thinking; then the king says, kind of absent-minded like:

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Why, Aunt Polly, he was always so good and kind and moony and absent-minded and chuckle-headed and lovable--why, he was just an angel!

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L'Abbe Fouquet perceived that the poet, absent-minded, as usual, was about to follow the two talkers, and he interposed.

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Garth, seeing that her absent-minded husband was putting on again the hat which he had just taken off.