distant
Americanadjective
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far off or apart in space; not near at hand; remote or removed (often followed byfrom ).
a distant place; a town three miles distant from here.
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apart or far off in time.
distant centuries past.
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remote or far apart in any respect.
a distant relative.
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reserved or aloof; not familiar or cordial.
a distant greeting.
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arriving from or going to a distance, as a communication, journey, etc..
I have here a distant letter from Japan.
adjective
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far away or apart in space or time
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(postpositive) separated in space or time by a specified distance
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apart in relevance, association, or relationship
a distant cousin
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coming from or going to a faraway place
a distant journey
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remote in manner; aloof
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abstracted; absent
a distant look
Other Word Forms
- distantly adverb
- distantness noun
- overdistant adjective
- overdistantly adverb
- quasi-distant adjective
- quasi-distantly adverb
- ultradistant adjective
- undistant adjective
- undistantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of distant
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English dista(u)nt, from Anglo-French, from Latin distant-, stem of distāns “standing apart,” present participle of distāre “to stand apart,” from di- di- 2 + stāre “to stand”; stand
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.
Although he had noticed she had become "colder" and "more distant" that summer, he would never have imagined what would come next.
From BBC
Head's struggles before this series – only one score of 40 or more in 20 innings going back to June – are now a distant memory.
From BBC
Many experts consider fusion the holy grail of energy that could deliver enormous power in the distant future.
The promise the 27-year-old right-hander showed in making a 46 in the first innings of the first Test in Perth now looks as distant as England's hopes of regaining the urn.
From BBC
On this Thursday night, that is distant history.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
