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Webster 1913 Edition
Distant
Dis′tant
,Adj.
[F., fr. L.
distans
, -antis
, p. pr. of distare
to stand apart, be separate or distant; dis-
+ stare
to stand. See Stand
.] 1.
Separated; having an intervening space; at a distance; away.
One board had two tenons, equally
distant
. Ex. xxxvi. 22.
Diana’s temple is not
distant
far. Shakespeare
2.
Far separated; far off; not near; remote; – in place, time, consanguinity, or connection;
as,
distant
times; distant
relatives.The success of these
distant
enterprises. Prescott.
3.
Reserved or repelling in manners; cold; not cordial; somewhat haughty;
as, a
. distant
mannerHe passed me with a
distant
bow. Goldsmith.
4.
Indistinct; faint; obscure, as from distance.
Some
distant
knowledge. Shakespeare
A
distant
glimpse. W. Irving.
Syn. – Separate; far; remote; aloof; apart; asunder; slight; faint; indirect; indistinct.
Webster 1828 Edition
Distant
DISTANT
,Adj.
1.
Separate; having an intervening space of any indefinite extent. One point may be less than a line or a hairs breadth distant from another. Saturn is supposed to be nearly nine hundred million miles distant from the sun.2.
Remote in place; as, a distant object appears under a small angle.3.
Remote in time, past or future; as a distant age or period of the world.4.
Remote in the line of succession or descent, indefinitely; as a distant descendant; a distant ancestor; distant posterity.5.
Remote in natural connection or consanguinity; as a distant relation; distant kindred; a distant collateral line.6.
Remote in nature; not allied; not agreeing with or in conformity to; as practice very distant from principles or profession.7.
Remote in view; slight; faint; not very likely to be realized; as, we have a distant hope or prospect of seeing better times.8.
Remote in connection; slight; faint; indirect; not easily seen or understood; as a distant hint or allusion to a person or subject. So also we say, a distant idea; a distant thought; a distant resemblance.9.
Reserved; shy; implying haughtiness, coldness of affection, indifference, or disrespect; as, the manners of a person are distant.Definition 2024
distant
distant
English
Alternative forms
Adjective
distant (comparative more distant, superlative most distant)
- Far off (physically, logically or mentally).
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
- We heard a distant rumbling but didn't pay any more attention to it. She was surprised to find that her fiancé was a distant relative of hers. His distant look showed that he was not listening to me.
-
- Emotionally unresponsive or unwilling to express genuine feelings.
- Ever since the trauma she has been totally distant to me.
Derived terms
- most-distant
Related terms
Translations
far off
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emotionally unresponsive