The Collaborative International Dictionary
Absent-minded \Ab`sent-mind"ed\, a. Absent in mind; abstracted; preoccupied. -- Ab`sent-mind"ed*ness, n. -- Ab`sent-mind"ed*ly, adv.
Wiktionary
adv. (context manner English) preoccupiedly; in an absent-minded manner. (First attested in the late 19th century.)(R:SOED5: page=9)
Usage examples of "absent-mindedly".
Totally overwhelmed by what Joran had told her, and desperately in need of some time for thought, Channa followed him back into the building, said goodbye absent-mindedly and allowed the robot to guide her back to her quarters.
His eyes ran over the selection of condiments which had come with it, and almost absent-mindedly he dropped the pepper-pot into his pocket.
The humanoids seemed vaguely aware of attacking yellow jackets, hornets, giant bumblebees, and tarantulas, which they squashed absent-mindedly when they chanced to notice them.
At which time, unhurriedly but at once and almost absent-mindedly, the alien nestling which they had returned to his proper world was tapped of what he had learned of his people and dropped, after cherishing, since he was of no further interest to their purposes.
He challenged himself, swooping around one of the breathtaking curves of the cycleway as absent-mindedly as if he were riding in a bus down a city street.
Lord Huang, however, continues to extend himself upon a faith in the Astronomers ever in need of re-convincing, wagering ever more stupendous Sums upon the ecliptick Innocence of ev'ryone else, not only Silk-Merchants but presently Bankers, other Lords, and their Generals, until the terrible Day when Hsi or Ho, or both, whilst casting Calculations for an upcoming Total Solar Eclipse, with fingers Greas'd from the giant platter-ful of Dim Sum, which, having given their personal gold Chop-Sticks away as tokens of desire to the operatick Personage Miss Chen, they are absent-mindedly eating from by Hand, happen to mis-count enough critical Beads of the Abacus to throw their Prediction off by hours.
As she leaned against the counter waiting for the kettle to boil, she absent-mindedly ate digestive biscuits.
His loving wife, happy with her horses, held his elbow on kerbsides so that he wouldn't absent-mindedly step off in front of buses.
She bent down limberly for one her age, and looked closely at Erichs face, grasping his cheeks almost absent-mindedly and turning his head on his stiffening neck to get a good look at both.
A glance at that dark, unstitched wound and a deep fissure in my brain opens up: all the images and memories that had been laboriously or absent-mindedly assorted, labeled, documented, filed, sealed and stamped break forth pell-mell like ants pouring out of a crack in the sidewalk.
Karl unstrapped his sandals, then kicked them off, absent-mindedly spraying Ahira with sand.