absentlyadv.
/ˈabs(ə)ntli/, U.S. /ˈæbsən(t)li/ In an absent manner; distractedly, inattentively; absent-mindedly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > abstraction, absent-mindedness > [adverb]
absentlya1631
amusively1776
abstractedly1827
absent-mindedly1857
dreamily1861
preoccupiedly1884
a1631 J. Donne 50 Serm. (1649) lxii. 386 Angels..are here, for their Accusation that are not here, but frivolously and causelessely absent, or negligently, absently present.
1632 tr. E. Campion Campion Englished 103 He called sacred Images (by which the Saints are to vs absently present) the Bookes of the illiterate and vnlearned.
1796 F. Burney Camilla III. vi. xi. 346 While he was yet, though absently, conversing with them, Lord O'Lerney pointed out Camilla.
1836 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 40 191 He kissed him—but coldly—absently—as it were mechanically.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xxii. 369 Old Mackenzie..was absently thinking of all the strange possibilities now opening before him.
1910 E. M. Forster Howards End xliv. 336 Margaret put down her work and regarded them absently.
1942 R. Chandler High Window (1943) xix. 135 She killed her cigarette in Morny's copper goldfish bowl, speared the crushed stub absently with the letter opener.
1995 J. Shreeve Neandertal Enigma (1996) v. 105 As I flew out of Ann Arbor that evening, I was staring absently at the inflight magazine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.a1631