absence
/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/UK/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/
absence noun: a state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship.
Noun
absence (usually uncountable, plural absences)
- A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- Synonyms:
- absentia
- The period of someone being away.
- During Jane's absence, Mark will be taking charge.
- Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Philippians 2:12
- Synonyms:
- absentia
- Failure to be present where one is expected, wanted, or needed; nonattendance; deficiency.
- Harry Kane was an absence in that first half. He touched the ball 11 times despite Spurs taking 62% of possession.2018 September 15, Barney Ronay, “Finely tuned Liverpool are really getting into Jürgen Klopp’s groove”, in The Guardian
- Then, in January, a creeping tsunami of train cancellations, triggered by major staff absences as a result of the aggressive transmissibility of Omicron, heaped further misery on rail users.2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3
- Lack; deficiency; non-existence.
- He had an absence of enthusiasm.
- in the absence of higher and more authoritative sanctions the ordinances of foreign states, the opinions of eminent statesmen, and the writings of distinguished jurists, are regarded as of great consideration on questions not settled by conventional law1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law
- Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind).
- absence of mind
- Reflecting on the little absences and distractions of mankind.1711 June 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, May 29, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 77; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New...
- Temporary loss or disruption of consciousness, with sudden onset and recovery, and common in epilepsy.
- Lack of contact between blades.
absence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
absence in Hindi
- state of being away
- अनुपस्थिति anupasthiti
absence in Tamil
- வராமை, ஒன்றின் இன்மை, இல்லாமை
absence in Marathi
- state of being away
- गैरहजेरी gairahjerī, अनुपस्थिती anupasthitī
- failure to be present where one is expected
- गैरहजेरी gairahjerī
- lack; deficiency; non-existence
- अभाव abhāv
absence in Urdu
- state of being away
- غیر موجودگی ġair maujūdgī, غائب ġā'ib, غیر حاضری ġair ḥāẓirī
- failure to be present where one is expected
- غیر حاضری ġair ḥāẓirī
More languagesFewer languages
- absence in Bengali
- অনুপস্থিতি, অভাব, মনোযোগহীনতা
- absence in Telugu
- పరోక్షము parōkṣamu
- absence in Malayalam
- അസാന്നിധ്യം asānnidhyaṁ, അഭാവം abhāvaṁ
- absence in Kannada
- ಇಲ್ಲದಿಕೆ, ಇಲ್ಲದಿರುವಿಕೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಮೆ, ಕೊರತೆ
- absence in Punjabi
- ਗੈਰ-ਹਾਜ਼ਰੀ, ਗੈਰਹਾਜ਼ਰੀ, ਗੈਰ-ਮੌਜੂਦਗੀ
- absence in Gujarati
- ગેરહાજરી gerhājrī
- absence in Pashto
- بريد buríd
- absence in Arabic
- غِيَاب ḡiyāb
- absence in Indonesian
- ketidakhadiran
- absence in Persian
- غیاب ġeyâb, غیبت ġeybat
Examples of absence in a sentence
- The narrow streets that twist and turn through the compact heart of Dent are surfaced with cobbles which, in the absence of pavements, spread right across from doorstep to doorstep.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 150:
- To conquer that abstraction which is called absence.c. 1824-1829, Walter Landor, Imaginary Conversations:
Synonyms of absence
Antonyms
Forms of absence
| plural | absences |
|---|---|
| alternative form | abs. |
Origin of absence
From Middle English absence, from Old French absence, ausence, from Latin absentia, from absēns (“absent”), present active participle of absum (“to be away or absent”), from ab (“from, away from”) + sum (“to be”).
Words formed from absence
Phrases with absence
Questions about absence
- What does absence mean?
- Absence means a state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship.
- What is absence in Hindi?
- Absence in Hindi is अनुपस्थिति (anupasthiti). See Absence meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use absence in a sentence?
- The narrow streets that twist and turn through the compact heart of Dent are surfaced with cobbles which, in the absence of pavements, spread right across from doorstep to doorstep.
- What part of speech is absence?
- Absence is a noun.
- How do you pronounce absence?
- Absence is pronounced /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/ (UK).
- What is the plural of absence?
- The plural of absence is absences.
Words near absence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: absence (page history and authors); absence (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); absence (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పరోక్షము (Telugu) (page history and authors); absence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); absence (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); بريد (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-absence.ogg.
Cite this entry: “absence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/absence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.