absent
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
-
absents,
present (3rd person singular)
-
absented,
past participle, past
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absenting
present participle
preposition
adjective
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away or not present
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lacking; missing
-
inattentive; absent-minded
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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absentsimple
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absentssimple
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have absentedperfect
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has absentedperfect
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am absentingprogressive
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are absentingprogressive
-
is absentingprogressive
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have been absentingperfect progressive
-
has been absentingperfect progressive
Past
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absentedsimple
-
had absentedperfect
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was absentingprogressive
-
were absentingprogressive
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had been absentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of absent
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin absent-, stem of absēns “being away,” present participle of abesse “to be away,” from ab- ab- + esse “to be”
Explanation
Absent means not there. If you absent yourself from class, you're marked as absent. If you have an absent parent, it means they don't live with you or take part in your care. Absent can also describe a state of mind, meaning "not all there" or "lost in thought." If you are absent from class on a test day, you will have to explain your absence, unless your teacher is so absent minded she forgets and just gives you an A.
Vocabulary lists containing absent
Education and Academics, List 2
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Lacking
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Maybe someday I’d have the opportunity to give those letters to my grandchildren when they were old enough to understand why they had an absent grandfather.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Notably absent are Chinese and Saudi firms, and also partially state-owned enterprises.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
When they start shooting a movie together, they begin to understand their connection to this ancient evil, and their place in a cyclical inferno wrought by absent parents and bad weather.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
By determining where particular amphibians were present or absent, researchers can reconstruct environmental changes at a more local scale.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
He was kind of flattered that she’d noticed he was absent.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
In the mode of Katherine Boo and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Flock absents herself from the narrative, allowing us to enter the lives of her subjects and witness moments of almost unbearable intimacy.
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2018
I don’t think there is much of a risk of default in the very near term but clearly if it absents official financing then it becomes more of a concern.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2016
Yet even Rose notably absents himself from the stage as his sidemen widdle their way through their countless between-song solos.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 14, 2010
Eddie, her husband, decides that after all Patricia likes the surgeon best; to facilitate her leaving him, he absents himself from home.
From Time Magazine Archive
"But now that madame absents herself for a moment, let me be explicit."
From Running Sands by Reginald Wright Kauffman
“The evidence demonstrates that he did not control Oracle, and that he absented himself from the acquisition of NetSuite,” the judge wrote.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
But should Duncan, as Steinbach suggested, have chosen to turn down the Federalist Society’s invitation and voluntarily absented himself from Stanford’s campus?
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2023
"Although she did not explain to the defendant why she had done this, it must have been obvious to him that she had absented herself because of her anxiety."
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2020
By contrast, Mr. Johnson absented himself from Monday’s vote by traveling to Afghanistan, though for hours even cabinet colleagues were unsure of his whereabouts.
From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2018
This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
"He is deliberately manipulating the court and voluntarily absenting himself."
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2025
He focused on personal priorities like criminal justice reform, and he jousted with rivals in a factionalized West Wing while absenting himself at key moments, to the frustration of colleagues.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
If you can convince him, then he will come to realize that your absenting yourself truly is the easiest solution.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 2, 2022
Rather, when Fleabag is talking to the audience, she is noticeably absenting herself from her real life.
From Slate ● May 16, 2019
He had a blanket pulled over his head, was apparently asleep, absenting himself from the whole affair.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
