Absent

//ˈæb.sn̩t// adj, noun, prep, verb

adj, noun, prep, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something absent, especially absent people collectively; those who were or are not there. with-definite-article

    "The Applause he met with exceeds all belief of the Absent."

  2. 2
    An absentee; a person who is not there. Scotland, obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To keep (oneself) away. reflexive

    "Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace."

  2. 2
    stay away or leave wordnet
  3. 3
    To keep (someone) away. archaic, transitive

    "Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;"

  4. 4
    Stay away; withdraw. intransitive, obsolete

    "The iron rule of the plantation, always passionately and violently enforced in that neighborhood, makes flogging the penalty of failing to be in the field before sunrise in the morning, unless special permission be given to the absenting slave."

  5. 5
    Leave. rare, transitive
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To omit. rare, transitive

    "When we realize that the digitalisation of the image involves - by reducing and even absenting - the role of 'the physical', the 'sensuous' (by reducing and eventually absenting the indexical aspects of the image) […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing. not-comparable

    "Owing to his own illness and then his family's, Ramzi has often been absent from class this month. We will help him catch up with his studies."

  2. 2
    Not existing. not-comparable

    "The body part was rudimentary or absent in 1% of specimens."

  3. 3
    Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied. comparable

    "Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn. Normally he is quite present [= engaged] during a meeting."

Adjective
  1. 1
    lost in thought; showing preoccupation wordnet
  2. 2
    nonexistent wordnet
  3. 3
    not being in a specified place wordnet
Preposition
  1. 1
    In the absence of; without; except.

    "Absent taxes modern governments cannot function."

Synonyms

All synonyms
absentmindedawaylackingabscondedabsent-mindedabsentminded

Example

More examples

"You must not be absent from school."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English absent, from Middle French absent, from Old French ausent, and their source, Latin absens, present participle of absum (“to be away from”), from ab (“away”) + sum (“to be”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English absenten, from Old French absenter, from Late Latin absentāre (“keep away, be away”).

Related phrases

absent over leaveabsent referentabsent treatmentabsent voterabsent without leaveabsent minded

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.