absent
/ˈæb.sn̩t/adjective, noun, preposition, verb
absent is spelled A-B-S-E-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, absent means “Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in absent?
| Letters | 6: A-B-S-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is absent?
Absent appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th 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 absent?
- UK /ˈæb.sn̩t/
- US /ˈæb.sn̩t/
As a verb (“To keep (oneself) away”): /æbˈsɛnt/, /æbˈsɛnt/.
Absent 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-absent.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-absent_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of absent
- absenter comparative
- absentest superlative
- abs.
- absents plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- absenting participle, present
- absented participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does absent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; (sometimes) missing.
Owing to his own illness and then his family's, Ramzi has often been absent from class this month. We will help him catch up with his studies.
- 2
Not existing.
The body part was rudimentary or absent in 1% of specimens.
- 3
Inattentive to what is passing; absent-minded; preoccupied.
Tom was there, but he seemed absent and withdrawn. Normally he is quite present [= engaged] during a meeting.
noun
- 1
Something absent, especially absent people collectively; those who were or are not there.
The Applause he met with exceeds all belief of the Absent.
- 2
ScotlandobsoleteAn absentee; a person who is not there.
preposition
- 1
In the absence of; without; except.
Absent taxes modern governments cannot function.
verb
- 1
To keep (oneself) away.
Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace.
- 2
archaicTo keep (someone) away.
- 3
obsoleteStay away; withdraw.
- 4
rareLeave.
- 5
rareTo omit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate absent?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of absent: a., abs..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Absent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | absent |
| German | abwesend , geistig abwesend , fehlen, fernbleiben |
| Portuguese | ausente , ausentar , inexistente , na ausência de |
| Spanish | ausente, absente (disused) , distraído , ausentarse |
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.