Also spelled absent-minded
Freq #73107
Meanings
- 1
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abstracted
Word family
Forms
absent-mindedlyabsent-mindednessabsentmindedly
Derived forms
absentmindedlyabsentmindedness
Appears in
Etymology
Also written absent-minded; formed from absent + minded and recorded from 1810 in the sense "forgetful because one's attention is elsewhere." The older phrase absence of mind expressed the same condition by the late eighteenth century.