Meanings
comparative more absentmindedly · superlative most absentmindedly
- alternativeAlternative form of absent-mindedly.
Jane turned slowly toward the bureau, but merely from force of habit. What was Stephen doing on Pine Street at this hour? She rearranged her hair absentmindedly.
1930, Margaret Ayer Barnes, Years of Grace, Part II, Chapter IV, page 1971 more example
Across the aisle, she was absentmindedly fiddling with a loose piece of yarn that had unraveled from her sweater, wrapping it around her finger the same way Derek was wrapped around her finger. And she didn't even know it. Hoo-boy. She killed him.
2005, Dallas Woodburn, 3 A.m.: A Collection of Short Stories, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin an absentminded or preoccupied manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
absentmindedly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absentmindedly
“absentmindedly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absentmindedly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “absentmindedly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/absentmindedly.
Source: absentmindedly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.