absence

ab·sence

noun \ˈab-sən(t)s\

Definition of ABSENCE

1

: the state of being absent

2

: the period of time that one is absent

3

: want, lack <an absence of detail>

4

: inattention to present surroundings or occurrences <absence of mind>

Examples of ABSENCE

1. The products showed a remarkable absence of defects.
2. He had many absences from work.
3. I expected to see her and was surprised by her absence.
4. She returned to the company after a long absence.
5. Moreover, he has this field pretty much to himself, for while there are many popular writers on science, there are few on engineering, an absence that is all the more remarkable since without engineering our technological world could not function. —Witold Rybczynski, New York Review of Books, 9 June 2005
6. The 1990 census revealed that 21 percent of 25-year-olds were living with one or both parents, up from 15 percent in 1970. Some young people are not moving out at all before their mid-20s, but many more are doing an extra rotation through the family home after a temporary or lengthy absence. —Paul McFedries, Word Spy, 2004
7. Called the Galápagos of the East, the Seychelles Islands, in the Indian Ocean, have been inhabited for only the past 200 years. In humanity's absence, nature ran wild: Tens of thousands of giant tortoises still lumber along the beaches, and a palm forest shelters … rare black parrots. —Audubon, September-October 1998
8. Only five to six inches long and weighing less than two ounces, the elf owl is the smallest bird of prey in the world. Its bobbed tail, white “eyebrows,” and absence of ear tufts give this tiny mothlike predator its impish appearance. —Ken Lamerton, Bird Watcher's Digest, May/June 1996

Origin of ABSENCE

(see ¹absent)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ABSENCE

Synonyms

need, lack, needfulness, want

Antonyms

presence

Related Words

deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency; dearth, meagerness, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, skimpiness; defect, minus; deprivation, famishment, privation; demand, essential, necessity, requirement, requisite

Near Antonyms

adequacy, enough, sufficiency; fund, pool, stock, supply; excess, fill, overabundance, oversupply, plenty, surfeit, surplus; hoard, stockpile