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remote

[ri-moht]
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adjective, re·mot·er, re·mot·est.
  1. far apart; far distant in space; situated at some distance away: the remote jungles of Brazil.
  2. out-of-the-way; secluded: a remote village; a remote mountaintop.
  3. distant in time: remote antiquity.
  4. distant in relationship or connection: a remote ancestor.
  5. operating or controlled from a distance, as by remote control: a remote telephone answering machine.
  6. far off; abstracted; removed: principles remote from actions.
  7. not direct, primary, or proximate; not directly involved or influential: the remote causes of the war.
  8. slight or faint; unlikely: not the remotest idea; a remote chance.
  9. reserved and distant in manner; aloof; not warmly cordial.
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noun
  1. Radio and Television. a broadcast, usually live, from a location outside a studio.
  2. remote control(def 2).
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Origin of remote

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin remōtus, past participle of removēre to move back; see remove, motion
Related formsre·mote·ly, adverbre·mote·ness, nounun·re·mote, adjectiveun·re·mote·ly, adverbun·re·mote·ness, noun

Synonyms

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2. sequestered, isolated, removed, apart, solitary. 8. inconsiderable. 9. withdrawn.

Antonyms

1. close, near.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for remoteness

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • All others, so far as she was concerned, existed only on the sufferance of remoteness.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • I confess that there was something eerie in the isolation and remoteness of St. nimie.

    The Roof of France

    Matilda Betham-Edwards

  • There was, indeed, a certain charm in our remoteness from the outer world.

  • He is here framing an ideal, without realising its remoteness.

  • The remoteness of the situation gave the very boldness of his plan feasibility.

    The Strollers

    Frederic S. Isham

British Dictionary definitions for remoteness

remote

adjective
  1. located far away; distant
  2. far from any centre of population, society, or civilization; out-of-the-way
  3. distant in time
  4. distantly related or connecteda remote cousin
  5. removed, as from the source or point of action
  6. slight or faint (esp in the phrases not the remotest idea, a remote chance)
  7. (of a person's manner) aloof or abstracted
  8. operated from a distance; remote-controlleda remote monitor
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Derived Formsremotely, adverbremoteness, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin remōtus far removed, from removēre, from re- + movēre to move
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for remoteness

remote

adj.

mid-15c., from Middle French remot or directly from Latin remotus "afar off, remote, distant in place," past participle of removere "move back or away" (see remove (v.)). Related: Remotely; remoteness. Remote control "fact of controlling from a distance" is recorded from 1904; as a device which allows this from 1920.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper