Word.ws English Dictionary

absentminded professor

absentminded professor is the alternative form of absent-minded professor.

Meaning of absent-minded professor

Noun

absent-minded professor (plural absent-minded professors)

  1. A stereotypical fictional character whose focus on academic matters leads them to ignore or forget their surroundings.
    • An absent-minded professor, in going out of the gateway of his college, ran against a cow. In the confusion of the moment, he raised his hat, and exclaimed: " I beg your pardon, Madam." Soon after, he stumbled against a lady in the street. In sudden recollection of his former mishap, he called out...1864, The American Educational Monthly, volume 1, page 23
  2. (broadly) A person who tends to be oblivious to reality.
    • Snapshot: Jimmy, a third-grader, is an absent-minded professor before his time. He forgets everything, from his lunch box in the morning, to his raincoat1997, Edward M. Hallowell, When You Worry About the Child You Love, page 38

Forms of absentminded professor

pluralabsentminded professors

Questions about absentminded professor

What is absentminded professor the alternative form of?
Absentminded professor is the alternative form of absent-minded professor.

Words near absentminded professor in the dictionary

  1. absentiality
  2. absenting
  3. absently
  4. absentment
  5. absentminded
  6. absentminded professor
  7. absentminded professors
  8. absentmindedly
  9. absentmindedness
  10. absentness
  11. absents

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: absentminded professor (page history and authors); absent-minded professor (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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