absent-minded

adjective

ab·​sent-mind·​ed ˌab-sənt-ˈmīn-dəd 

variants or less commonly absentminded

1

a

: lost in thought and unaware of one's surroundings or actions : preoccupied

was too absent-minded to notice what time it was

b

: tending to forget or fail to notice things : given to absence of mind (see absence sense 3)

an absent-minded person prone to forgetting appointments

2

: indicative of or resulting from preoccupation or absence of mind

gave an absent-minded reply

absentmindedly adverb

or less commonly absent-mindedly

absentmindedness noun

or less commonly absent-mindedness

Synonyms

• preoccupied
• distracted

Choose the Right Synonym for absent-minded

abstracted, preoccupied, absent, absent-minded, distracted mean inattentive to what claims or demands consideration.

abstracted implies absorption of the mind in something other than one's surroundings, and often suggests reflection on weighty matters.

walking about with an abstracted air

preoccupied often implies having one's attention so taken up by thoughts as to neglect others.

too preoccupied with her debts to enjoy the meal

absent stresses inability to fix the mind on present concerns due more to mental wandering than to concentration on other matters.

an absent stare

absent-minded implies that the mind is fixed elsewhere and often refers to a habit of abstractedness.

so absent-minded, he's been known to wear mismatched shoes

distracted may suggest an inability to concentrate caused by worry, sorrow, or anxiety.

was too distracted by grief to continue working

Examples of absent-minded in a Sentence

Her absentminded husband forgot their anniversary.

She did the chores in an absentminded way.

Recent Examples on the Web

O'Brien returns to lend his voice to Lawrence Fletcher, Ferb's sweet but absent-minded dad. —EW.com, 7 June 2025

Ludwig Von Drake Ludwig Von Drake is the wise and eccentric professor who is known to be brilliant, but sometimes an absent-minded scientist and inventor. —Lauryn Higgins, Parents, 12 Mar. 2025

Your nails go through a lot: handwashing, polishing, maybe some absent-minded picking (guilty). —Jessica Kasparian, SELF, 25 Feb. 2025

For Walton, Candide represents an innocent, sometimes absent-minded, young individual who doesn’t know anything about the world—or really that much about himself. —Miguel Sirgado, Miami Herald, 6 Jan. 2025

That rule is forgiving to absent-minded voters, but slows tallying because those ballots still need to go through signature checks and other processes. —Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 2 Dec. 2024

Colleagues described him as an absent-minded professor type. —Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 31 Oct. 2024

The French might be sad if Emily leaves for Italy, but Americans in Paris are unlikely to shed any tears; many of them have had enough of the Chicago native’s absent-minded cultural blunders. —Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2024

Levey, who didn’t keep documentation of his side of the bartering, acknowledges that a less absent-minded customer would have demanded clearer accounting. —Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for absent-minded

• rescinded
• winded

Kids Definition

absentminded

adjective

ab·​sent·​mind·​ed ˌab-sənt-ˈmīn-dəd 

: lost in thought and unaware of one's surroundings or actions

absentmindedly adverb

absentmindedness noun