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Glite Dictionary
❌ Not present 💭 Not paying attention 🚶 To stay away
to absent

to absent

9 6.8
To stay away on purpose from a place or event when you should be there
  • verb
  • /ˈæbsənt/
translation icon : ausentarse (de)
  • She chose to absent herself from the party, as she was not feeling well.

Examples

  • The student Matteo Danese has been granted a permission... ...to absent himself from lessons to take a picture of the old factory.

    Imago Mortis (2009)

  • And hopefully it will explain why I've been absent for some of this time.

  • At one point, Emily started to absent herself from class.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Higher-grade nurses tended to feel more frustrated and absented themselves on more occasions, as did female nurses.

    Academic text (1992)

  • I'd taken a picnic and absented myself from the site—just for a few hours.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He decided to absent himself from the meeting because he had other commitments.

  • The teacher allowed the student to absent himself from class for a family event.

Synonyms

to miss
vsto absent
∞ 1.0

To not be at an event, class, or activity

deliberately stay away when expected to be present

Antonyms

present
392 1.0

Being in a place or at an event

How Absent

to desert
219 4.2
to absent
9 6.8
to miss
∞ 1.0
to attend
∞ 1.7

Surface Forms

absent infinitive

Etymology

Absent comes from the Latin parts ab- 'away' and esse 'to be', so it originally meant 'to be away'. To 'absent' yourself is therefore to put yourself 'away' from a place on purpose, which matches the modern verb meaning.