absent

About 17.26 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. adjective Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; missing. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}

   Owing to his own illness and then his family's, Ramzi has often been absent from class this month. We will help him catch up with his studies.

2. adjective Not existing.

   The body part was rudimentary or absent in 1% of specimens.

3. adjective Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied.

   Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn. Normally he is quite present [= engaged] during a meeting.

4. noun Something absent, especially absent people collectively; those who were or are not there.
5. noun An absentee; a person who is not there.
6. preposition In the absence of; without; except.

   Absent taxes modern governments cannot function.

7. verb To keep (oneself) away.

   Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace.

8. verb To keep (someone) away.

Similar words

missing absentminded inattentive abstracted lacking nonexistent away truant devoid departed

Often followed by

from in or and on for at a the

Word family

absented absenter absentest absenting absently absents conspicuously absent