absence
/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/noun
absence is spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E. The wrong spelling people search most is absense: about 1,190 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 11 of all searches for the word. Absence is a noun meaning “A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship”. The plural of absence is absences.
How many letters and syllables are in absence?
| Letters | 7: A-B-S-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 4,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, absense, about 1,190 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell absence?
Absence is spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for absence in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is absence?
Absence appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce absence?
- UK /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/
- UK /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩ts/
- /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/
Absence has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-absence.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of absence
- absences plural
- abs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does absence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- 2
The period of someone being away.
During Jane's absence, Mark will be taking charge.
- 3
Failure to be present where one is expected, wanted, or needed; nonattendance; deficiency.
- 4
Lack; deficiency; non-existence.
He had an absence of enthusiasm.
- 5
Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind).
absence of mind
- 6
Temporary loss or disruption of consciousness, with sudden onset and recovery, and common in epilepsy.
- 7
Lack of contact between blades.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate absence?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of absence: abs..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Absence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | absence , manque , absence du fer |
| German | Abwesenheit, Absenz , Fehlen , Absence |
| Portuguese | ausência , falta , falta de atenção |
| Spanish | ausencia, absencia (disused) , falta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.