Standard Lemma guide

distant

adj · noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdɪstənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪstənt
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH1 S T AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Far off (physically, logically or mentally).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: faraway

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Emotionally unresponsive or unwilling to express genuine feelings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Ever since our argument, she has been totally distant toward me.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aloof, cold, cool, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get, offish, quiet, remote, standoffish, strange, thorny, touch-me-not-ish, unapproachable, unbending, undemonstrative, unimpressionable, uninvolved

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Imported into a cable television system from a different market (and thus possibly incurring a copyright royalty).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: broadcasting, media, television

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: local

4

adjective

Meaning 4

separated in space or coming from or going to a distance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • distant villages
  • the sound of distant traffic
  • a distant sound
  • a distant telephone call

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: close

5

adjective

Meaning 5

far apart in relevance or relationship or kinship

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a distant cousin
  • a remote relative
  • a distant likeness
  • considerations entirely removed (or remote) from politics

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: remote

Antonyms: close

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

located far away spatially

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • distant lands
  • remote stars

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: remote

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

separate or apart in time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • distant events
  • the remote past or future

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: remote, removed

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

remote in manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • stood apart with aloof dignity
  • a distant smile
  • he was upstage with strangers

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aloof, upstage

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *steh2- Proto-Indo-European *-éh1ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1yeti Proto-Indo-European *sth2éh1yeti Proto-Italic *staējō Proto-Italic *staēō Latin stō Latin distō Latin distānsder. Old French distantbor. Middle English distaunt English distant Inherited from Middle English distaunt, from Old French distant, from Latin distāns.

Across languages

Translations

149 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: afgeleë — far off
  • Arabic: بَعِيد (baʕīd) — far off
  • Arabic: بعيد (beʕīd) — far off
  • Armenian: հեռավոր (heṙavor) — far off
  • Australian Kriol: longwei — far off
  • Azerbaijani: uzaq — far off
  • Azerbaijani: iraq — far off
  • Bashkir: алыҫ (alıś) — far off
  • Bashkir: йыраҡ (yıraq) — far off
  • Belarusian: далёкі (daljóki) — far off
  • Bulgarian: далечен (dalečen) — far off
  • Bulgarian: отдалечен (otdalečen) — far off
  • Burmese: ဝေးကွာ (we:kwa) — far off
  • Catalan: distant — far off
  • Catalan: remot — far off
  • Cherokee: ᎢᎾ (ina) — far off
  • Chinese Cantonese: 遠 /远 (jyun5) — far off
  • Chinese Mandarin: 遠 /远 (yuǎn) — far off
  • Chinese Mandarin: 遙遠 /遥远 (yáoyuǎn) — far off
  • Crimean Tatar: avlaq — far off
  • Czech: vzdálený — far off
  • Czech: daleký — far off
  • Old Czech: daleký — far off
  • Dalmatian: luntun — far off
  • Danish: fjern — far off
  • Dutch: ver — far off
  • Dutch: in de verte — far off
  • Dutch: verafgelegen — far off
  • Esperanto: distanca — far off
  • Esperanto: fora — far off
  • Estonian: kauge — far off
  • Faroese: fjarur — far off
  • Faroese: fjarlagin — far off
  • Faroese: fjarlagdur — far off
  • Faroese: fjarstaddur — far off
  • Finnish: etäinen — far off
  • Finnish: syrjäinen — far off
  • Finnish: etä- — far off
  • Finnish: kauko- — far off
  • Finnish: kaukainen — far off
  • French: distant — far off
  • French: lointain — far off
  • French: éloigné — far off
  • Galician: distante — far off
  • Galician: lonxe — far off
  • Galician: afastado — far off
  • Galician: remoto — far off
  • Georgian: შორეული (šoreuli) — far off
  • Georgian: დაშორებული (dašorebuli) — far off
  • German: abgelegen — far off
  • German: abstehend — far off
  • German: distanziert — far off
  • German: entfernt — far off
  • German: fern — far off
  • Greek: μακρινός (makrinós) — far off
  • Hebrew: מרוחק (merukhaq) — far off
  • Hindi: दूर (dūr) — far off
  • Hindi: दूरस्थ (dūrasth) — far off
  • Hungarian: távoli — far off
  • Icelandic: fjarlægur — far off
  • Ido: fora — far off
  • Ingrian: etähäin — far off
  • Italian: distante — far off
  • Italian: remoto — far off
  • Japanese: 遠い (tōi) — far off
  • Japanese: 遠隔な (enkaku na) — far off
  • Japanese: 辺鄙な (henpi na) — far off
  • Javanese: adoh — far off
  • Korean: 원격 (won'gyeok) — far off
  • Korean: 먼 (meon) — far off
  • Northern Kurdish: dûr — far off
  • Latin: distāns — far off
  • Latin: remōtus — far off
  • Latin: longinquus — far off
  • Latvian: tāls — far off
  • Latvian: attāls — far off
  • Latvian: nomaļš — far off
  • Livonian: kougi — far off
  • Lombard: lontan — far off
  • Macedonian: далечен (dalečen) — far off
  • Macedonian: оддалечен (oddalečen) — far off
  • Malayalam: അകന്ന (akanna) — far off
  • Māori: mamao — far off
  • Māori: matara — far off
  • Māori: tahiti — far off
  • Māori: tawhiti — far off
  • Māori: pāmamao — far off
  • Māori: kōkēi — far off
  • Māori: nawa — far off
  • Marathi: दूर (dūr) — far off
  • Occitan: distant — far off
  • Odia: ଦୂର (dura) — far off
  • Oromo: fagoo — far off
  • Ossetian: дард (dard) — far off
  • Persian: دور (dur) — far off
  • Polish: daleki — far off
  • Polish: odległy — far off
  • Portuguese: distante — far off
  • Romanian: departe — far off
  • Romanian: distant — far off
  • Romansh: lontan — far off
  • Russian: далёкий (daljókij) — far off
  • Russian: отдалённый (otdaljónnyj) — far off
  • Russian: да́льний (dálʹnij) — far off
  • Sanskrit: दूर (dūra) — far off
  • Scottish Gaelic: fad às — far off
  • Scottish Gaelic: iomallach — far off
  • Slovak: ďaleký — far off
  • Slovak: vzdialený — far off
  • Somali: fog — far off
  • Lower Sorbian: daloki — far off
  • Spanish: distante — far off
  • Spanish: a distancia — far off
  • Spanish: huraño — far off
  • Spanish: remoto — far off
  • Spanish: que hila largo — far off
  • Swedish: avlägsen — far off
  • Swedish: fjärran — far off
  • Tajik: дур (dur) — far off
  • Tocharian B: akañce — far off
  • Turkish: uzak — far off
  • Turkish: ırak (obsolescing) — far off
  • Ottoman Turkish: اوزاق (uzak) — far off
  • Ottoman Turkish: ایراق (ırak) — far off
  • Ukrainian: дале́кий (dalékyj) — far off
  • Urdu: دور (dūr) — far off
  • Uyghur: يىراق (yiraq) — far off
  • Uzbek: yiroq — far off
  • Venetan: lontàn — far off
  • Vietnamese: xa xôi — far off
  • Welsh: pell — far off
  • Welsh: anghysbell — far off
  • Yaghnobi: дур (dur) — far off
  • Zazaki: dûri (diq) — far off
  • Bulgarian: хладен (hladen) — emotionally unresponsive
  • Bulgarian: резервиран (rezerviran) — emotionally unresponsive
  • Catalan: distant — emotionally unresponsive
  • Dutch: afstandelijk — emotionally unresponsive
  • Finnish: etäinen — emotionally unresponsive
  • Finnish: kylmä — emotionally unresponsive
  • Greek: απόμακρος (apómakros) — emotionally unresponsive
  • Hungarian: távolságtartó — emotionally unresponsive
  • Irish: coimhthíoch — emotionally unresponsive
  • Russian: отстранённый (otstranjónnyj) — emotionally unresponsive
  • Spanish: distante — emotionally unresponsive
  • Turkish: uzak — emotionally unresponsive
  • Turkish: soğuk — emotionally unresponsive
  • Turkish: mesafeli — emotionally unresponsive
  • Welsh: oeraidd — emotionally unresponsive
Real reading context

distant in complete knowledge articles