distant

[ dis-tuhnt ]
See synonyms for distant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. far off or apart in space; not near at hand; remote or removed (often followed by from): a distant place; a town three miles distant from here.

  2. apart or far off in time: distant centuries past.

  1. remote or far apart in any respect: a distant relative.

  2. reserved or aloof; not familiar or cordial: a distant greeting.

  3. arriving from or going to a distance, as a communication, journey, etc.: I have here a distant letter from Japan.

Origin of distant

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English dista(u)nt, from Anglo-French, from Latin distant-, stem of distāns “standing apart,” present participle of distāre “to stand apart,” from di- di-2 + stāre “to stand”; see also stand

Other words for distant

Other words from distant

  • dis·tant·ly, adverb
  • dis·tant·ness, noun
  • o·ver·dis·tant, adjective
  • o·ver·dis·tant·ly, adverb
  • quasi-distant, adjective
  • qua·si-dis·tant·ly, adverb
  • ul·tra·dis·tant, adjective
  • un·dis·tant, adjective
  • un·dis·tant·ly, adverb

Words Nearby distant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use distant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for distant

distant

/ (ˈdɪstənt) /


adjective
  1. far away or apart in space or time

  2. (postpositive) separated in space or time by a specified distance

  1. apart in relevance, association, or relationship: a distant cousin

  2. coming from or going to a faraway place: a distant journey

  3. remote in manner; aloof

  4. abstracted; absent: a distant look

Origin of distant

1
C14: from Latin distāre to be distant, from dis- 1 + stāre to stand

Derived forms of distant

  • distantly, adverb
  • distantness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012