adjective
-
lost in thought; preoccupied
-
taken out or separated; extracted
Related Words
See absent-minded.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abstracted
Explanation
If you're abstracted, you're preoccupied with thoughts other than what's going on around you. An abstracted person on the bus might forget to get off at her stop. When your abstracted friend doesn't answer your repeated questions, it's not just because he's not listening — his mind is absorbed by heavy thoughts or worries that make him inattentive. Being distracted is similar, but abstracted implies that it's something inside you that's pulling your attention away, rather than a TV screen, the smell of nachos, or the sound of laughter. Abstracted is from the Latin root abstractus, "drawn away."
Vocabulary lists containing abstracted
"The Minister's Black Veil," Vocabulary from the short story
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Absent
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
One might have expected some gesture toward its origins, rather than its cool and highly abstracted references to Harlem.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
Think of it as theater as a healing exercise, or simply an abstracted evening with elaborate, vibrant costumes and choreographed drones creating new constellations in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2025
Perhaps I had joined the ranks of the global internet proletariat, hammering clicks on the abstracted factory floor of the future?
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2025
He added that the exemption that allows farmers to take up to 20,000 litres a day without a licence meant no-one could be sure how much water was being abstracted by farms across England.
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025
Bogert first gazed speculatively at his fingernails, and then bit at them in abstracted fashion.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
