- 1far away in space or time the distant sound of music distant stars/planets The time we spent together is now a distant memory. (formal) The airport was about 20 kilometres distant. a star 30 000 light years distant from the Earth (figurative) Peace was just a distant hope (= not very likely). Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, sound, become, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … prepositionfrom phrasestwo miles distant, three days distant, etc., … See full entry
- 2distant (from something) not like something else synonym remote Their life seemed utterly distant from his own.
- 3[only before noun] (of a person) related to you but not closely a distant cousin/aunt/relative
- 4not friendly; not wanting a close relationship with somebody Pat sounded very cold and distant on the phone. He became emotionally distant from his friends and family after the illness. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, feel, look, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … phrasescold and distant See full entry
- 5not paying attention to something but thinking about something completely different There was a distant look in her eyes; her mind was obviously on something else. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, feel, look, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … phrasescold and distant See full entry Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin distant- ‘standing apart’, from the verb distare, from dis- ‘apart’ + stare ‘stand’.Extra examples He felt oddly distant from her. In the not too distant future, we may witness the cloning of human beings. It was only a few miles away but it seemed unimaginably distant. The medieval mind can seem impossibly distant. The sound of the engine was growing more and more distant. The stars are more distant from the earth than the sun. Their relationship has grown increasingly distant in recent years. These sites were often several miles distant from each other. When they met, he was very cold and distant. geographically distant areas of the world in far distant lands stories from the dim and distant past He seemed distant and distracted. Pat sounded very distant on the phone. Peace was just a distant hope. We will be moving house in the not too distant future.Idioms
a long time ago stories from the distant past In the distant past this land was covered in forests.
not a long time in the future but fairly soon I hope we’ll see each other again in the not too distant future.
Check pronunciation: distant
