English edit

Etymology edit

absorbed +‎ -ly

Pronunciation edit

  • (US) IPA(key): /æbˈsɔɹb.ɪd.li/, /æbˈzɔɹb.ɪd.li/, /əbˈsɔɹb.ɪd.li/, /əbˈzɔɹb.ɪd.li/
  • (file)

Adverb edit

absorbedly (comparative more absorbedly, superlative most absorbedly)

  1. In a manner as if wholly engrossed or engaged. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]
    • 1841, R. B. Peake, “The Bequeathed Heart”, in The New Monthly Magazine[1], Volume 62, 1841 part 2, p. 36:
      Michael O’Shea continued absorbedly gazing on the picture, till the welcome smell of a tumbler of Mr. Hoolagan’s whisky suddenly restored him to comparative serenity.
    • 1917, Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself[2], New York: Grosset & Dunlap, pages 65–66:
      Fanny, red-cheeked and bright-eyed from her recent mental struggles, listened interestedly, then intently, then absorbedly.
    • 1943, Mary Norton, chapter 8, in The Magic Bed-Knob[3], New York: Hyperion:
      Carey could see her expression. It was the face of one who was deeply and absorbedly interested.
    • 2010, Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question[4], New York: Bloomsbury, Part One, Chapter Four, I, p. 86:
      Treslove was no Finkler. He could not lose his heart to more than one woman at a time. He loved too absorbedly for that. But he always knew when he was about to be thrown over and was quick to make provision, where he could, to love absorbedly again.

Related terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “absorbedly”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 9.