- absent-minded
- I(Roget's IV) modif.Syn. abstracted, preoccupied, lost in thought, forgetful, distracted, dreamy, inattentive, lost, unmindful, absent, unheeding, heedless, oblivious, distrait, daydreaming, napping, unconscious, unaware, inadvertent, withdrawn, removed, faraway, musing, bemused, woolgathering, stargazing, remote, scatterbrained, vacant, blank, nobody home*, mooning*, not all there*, moony*, in a brown study*, in the clouds*, with one's head in the clouds*, out of it*, spacey*, spaced out*.Ant. attentive, observant*, alert.Syn.- absent-minded suggests an aimless wandering of the mind away from the immediate situation, often implying a habitual tendency of this kind [ the absent-minded professor ] ; abstracted suggests a withdrawal of the mind from the immediate present and a serious concern with some other subject; preoccupied implies that the attention cannot be readily turned to something New because of its concern with a present matter; distrait suggests inability to concentrate, often emphasizing such a condition as a mood; distraught connotes agitation along with an inability to concentrate, specifically because of worry, grief, etc.; inattentive implies a failure to pay attention, emphasizing such behavior as a lack of disciplineII(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.inattentive, scatterbrained, *out to lunch, dreamy, oblivious, daydreaming, lost, forgetful, abstracted, preoccupied, absorbed, remote, *spacey, *head in the clouds, distrait.ANT.: attentive, alert, sharp, focusedIII(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective So lost in thought as to be unaware of one's surroundings: absent, abstracted, bemused, distrait, faraway, inattentive, preoccupied. Idiom: a million miles away. See ABILITY, AWARENESS.
English dictionary for students. 2013.