absently

1. 1.

   in an absentminded or preoccupied manner

   “he read the letter absently”

   Synonymsabstractedlyinattentivelyabsentmindedly

Questions about absently

What does absently mean?

absently means "in an absentminded or preoccupied manner".

How many syllables are in absently?

absently has 3 syllables: ab-sent-ly. The stress falls on "ab".

What is another word for absently?

Close synonyms include abstractedly, inattentively, absentmindedly. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is absently a common word?

absently is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.