absent-minded Hear it!

absent-minded Definition

absent-minded (ab′sənt mīn′did, -mīn′-)

adjective

  1. so dreamy or lost in thought as not to pay attention to what one is doing or what is going on around one
  2. habitually forgetful

absent-minded Related Forms

ab′sent-mind′edly adverb ab′sent-mind′edness noun

absent-minded Synonyms

absent-minded

modif.

abstracted, preoccupied, lost in thought, forgetful, distracted, dreamy, inattentive, lost, unmindful, absent, unheeding, heedless, oblivious, distrait, daydreaming, napping, unconscious, unaware, inadvertent, withdrawn, removed, faraway, musing, bemused, woolgathering, stargazing, remote, scatterbrained, vacant, blank, nobody home*, mooning*, not all there*, moony*, in a brown study*, in the clouds*, with one's head in the clouds*, out of it*, spacey*, spaced out*. *

Antonyms attentive, observant*, alert.

-MINDED51 absent-minded suggests an aimless wandering of the mind away from the immediate situation, often implying a habitual tendency of this kind the absent-minded professor; abstracted suggests a withdrawal of the mind from the immediate present and a serious concern with some other subject; preoccupied implies that the attention cannot be readily turned to something new because of its concern with a present matter; distrait suggests inability to concentrate, often emphasizing such a condition as a mood; distraught connotes agitation along with an inability to concentrate, specifically because of worry, grief, etc.; inattentive implies a failure to pay attention, emphasizing such behavior as a lack of discipline

absent-minded Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • professor: Paul Newman by way of Tom Cruise meets absent-minded professor.
  • imperialist: Bernard Porter ' s books include The Absent-Minded Imperialists: Britain, America and the World and The Lion's Share.
  • insolence: He strolled among the servants with the absent-minded insolence which they have all seen in their patrons.
  • fashion: Father Brown letting his eye rove around in a rather absent-minded fashion.
  • man: He's a dreamy, absent-minded man who barely manages to scrape a living from his business.
  • way: Part meandering lullaby, part quintessentially English whimsy, it somehow summarizes all that comes before in a wordless, absent-minded way.

Modifying Another Word

  • little: I reminded him of the fact. Yes, yes, I am a little absent-minded in such matters.
  • so: He is the loveliest man I ever saw, or ever hope to see, and oh so absent-minded!
  • slightly: She caught the kind of mental gymnastics that you have to go through when talking to people who are slightly absent-minded.
  • rather: Father Brown letting his eye rove around in a rather absent-minded fashion.
  • somewhat: The class teacher is somewhat absent-minded and is not very careful when he puts their reports into envelopes at the end of ' term.