different between abstracted vs absently

English

Etymology

abstract +? -ed

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b.?st?æk.t?d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?b.?st?æk.t?d/, /æb.?st?æk.t?d/

Adjective

abstracted (comparative more abstracted, superlative most abstracted)

1. Separated or disconnected; withdrawn; removed; apart. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]
2. (now rare) Separated from matter; abstract; ideal, not concrete. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
3. (now rare) Abstract; abstruse; difficult. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
4. Inattentive to surrounding objects; absent in mind; meditative. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 57:

     I'm afraid neither of us was looking where we were going. We Adrians are notoriously abstracted, are we not?

Derived terms

• abstractedly
• abstractedness

Translations

Verb

abstracted

1. simple past tense and past participle of abstract

References

English

Etymology

absent +? -ly

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?æb.sn?t.li/

Adverb

absently (comparative more absently, superlative most absently)

1. In an absent-minded or abstracted manner. [From the late 18^th century.]
   • 1773, P.L.B., “A Character,” The Sentimental Magazine, June, 1773, p. 179,^[1]

     When he is in company he will sit absently muttering over a heap of Arabick, or in a Ciceronian attitude, declaim with all the vehemency of eloquence […]

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Phase the Fourth, Chapter 34,^[2]

     […] his wife, flinging a shawl round her, had come to the outer room and was listening to the man's narrative, her eyes resting absently on the luggage and the drops of rain glistening upon it.

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Penguin, 1992, Part One, Chapter 1, p. 38,^[3]

     Absently, he picked a dew-wet leaf from the hibiscus shrub, crushed it in his palm, put it in his mouth and came towards her, chewing.

Synonyms

• absent-mindedly
• abstractedly

Related terms

• absentee