Meaning of absently | Babel Free

Definitions

In an absent-minded or abstracted manner.

Examples

“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, […] 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.”

“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.”

“The ordeal is a world away from Kira now as she plays games on her new iPad while absently talking about downloading more apps to play⟳ music, and voicing her excitement over reuniting soon with her grandfather’s girlfriend.”

CEFR level