See absent-minded professor in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
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{
"ref": "1864, The American Educational Monthly, volume 1, page 23:",
"text": "An absent-minded professor, in going out of the gateway of his college, ran against a cow. In the confusion of the moment, he raised his hat, and exclaimed: \" I beg your pardon, Madam.\" Soon after, he stumbled against a lady in the street. In sudden recollection of his former mishap, he called out: \"Is that you again, you brute?\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1890, Charles Stuart Pratt, “Adolf Oberlauder, Humorist”, in The Cosmopolitan, volume 9, page 612:",
"text": "Although the absent-minded professor has appeared frequently in American humor it is safe to assert that the dire extremity of the learned man in the tragedy of A Defective Memory could hardly have been reached outside of Germany.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1897, Melvin Dewey et al., Library Journal, volume 22, page 42:",
"text": "Even when the absent-minded professor comes in and says he wants a book he saw noticed a few weeks ago, he has forgotten the author's name and can't recall the title, but he is sure it is a good book because the Nation or the Saturday Review, he really can't remember which, said so, try to find out what he wants and get it for him.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"A stereotypical fictional character whose focus on academic matters leads them to ignore or forget their surroundings."
],
"id": "en-absent-minded_professor-en-noun-gXwZI2K5",
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"forget",
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"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "fictional character",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "verstrooide professor"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "fictional character",
"word": "hajamielinen professori"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "fictional character",
"word": "professeur étourdi"
}
]
},
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"_dis": "11 89",
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"_dis": "12 88",
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"_dis": "9 91",
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"_dis": "14 86",
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"_dis": "33 67",
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, Edward M. Hallowell, When You Worry About the Child You Love, page 38:",
"text": "Snapshot: Jimmy, a third-grader, is an absent-minded professor before his time. He forgets everything, from his lunch box in the morning, to his raincoat",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2003, Judith Sherven with James Sniechowski, Be Loved for Who You Really Are, page 172:",
"text": "Judith: I call Jim \"The Ditz\" when he is the absent-minded professor.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Amy Demorest, Psychology's grand theorists: how personal experiences shaped professional ideas, page 174:",
"text": "... a dreamy youth whose siblings teased him for being an absent-minded professor.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Mark I. West, The Japanification of children's popular culture: from godzilla to miyazaki, page 59:",
"text": "Professor Oak, the world's leading Pokémon expert, is at once a genius and a bumbling, absent-minded professor",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Mitchell Graham, Dead Docket, page 274:",
"text": "“My brother, the absent-minded professor,” she said, motioning to me with her thumb. “Don't you know why that date looks familiar, silly?",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who tends to be oblivious to reality."
],
"id": "en-absent-minded_professor-en-noun-EIAC1Qa7",
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"(by extension) A person who tends to be oblivious to reality."
],
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"broadly"
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"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "verstrooide professor"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person",
"word": "hajamielinen professori"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 96",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "roztargniony profesor"
}
]
}
],
"word": "absent-minded professor"
}
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1864, The American Educational Monthly, volume 1, page 23:",
"text": "An absent-minded professor, in going out of the gateway of his college, ran against a cow. In the confusion of the moment, he raised his hat, and exclaimed: \" I beg your pardon, Madam.\" Soon after, he stumbled against a lady in the street. In sudden recollection of his former mishap, he called out: \"Is that you again, you brute?\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1890, Charles Stuart Pratt, “Adolf Oberlauder, Humorist”, in The Cosmopolitan, volume 9, page 612:",
"text": "Although the absent-minded professor has appeared frequently in American humor it is safe to assert that the dire extremity of the learned man in the tragedy of A Defective Memory could hardly have been reached outside of Germany.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1897, Melvin Dewey et al., Library Journal, volume 22, page 42:",
"text": "Even when the absent-minded professor comes in and says he wants a book he saw noticed a few weeks ago, he has forgotten the author's name and can't recall the title, but he is sure it is a good book because the Nation or the Saturday Review, he really can't remember which, said so, try to find out what he wants and get it for him.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A stereotypical fictional character whose focus on academic matters leads them to ignore or forget their surroundings."
],
"links": [
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],
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"character"
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[
"forget",
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],
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]
]
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, Edward M. Hallowell, When You Worry About the Child You Love, page 38:",
"text": "Snapshot: Jimmy, a third-grader, is an absent-minded professor before his time. He forgets everything, from his lunch box in the morning, to his raincoat",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2003, Judith Sherven with James Sniechowski, Be Loved for Who You Really Are, page 172:",
"text": "Judith: I call Jim \"The Ditz\" when he is the absent-minded professor.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Amy Demorest, Psychology's grand theorists: how personal experiences shaped professional ideas, page 174:",
"text": "... a dreamy youth whose siblings teased him for being an absent-minded professor.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Mark I. West, The Japanification of children's popular culture: from godzilla to miyazaki, page 59:",
"text": "Professor Oak, the world's leading Pokémon expert, is at once a genius and a bumbling, absent-minded professor",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Mitchell Graham, Dead Docket, page 274:",
"text": "“My brother, the absent-minded professor,” she said, motioning to me with her thumb. “Don't you know why that date looks familiar, silly?",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who tends to be oblivious to reality."
],
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[
"oblivious",
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]
],
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"(by extension) A person who tends to be oblivious to reality."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
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}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "fictional character",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "verstrooide professor"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "fictional character",
"word": "hajamielinen professori"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "fictional character",
"word": "professeur étourdi"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "verstrooide professor"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person",
"word": "hajamielinen professori"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "roztargniony profesor"
}
],
"word": "absent-minded professor"
}
Download raw JSONL data for absent-minded professor meaning in English (4.4kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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