distant
part of speech
adjective (distant, more distant, most distant)
meaning for a pupil
1) Distant means far away in space. tree →
2) Distant means far away in time, long ago or far in the future. tree →
3) A distant relative is someone in your family who is not closely related. tree →
4) A distant person is not friendly or seems not to be paying attention. tree →
sense in the lessons
In geography and science, distant places, planets and stars are far away; in history, the distant past is long ago. In stories, distant sounds and lands create atmosphere. Phrases: the distant past, a distant relative, in the distance, distant from.
examples
- We could see distant mountains. tree →
- Pluto is very distant from the Sun. tree →
- Dinosaurs lived in the distant past. tree →
- She is a distant cousin of mine. tree →
- We heard the distant sound of thunder. tree →
- He seemed distant and quiet today. tree →
- In the distant future, people may live on Mars. tree →
- While they talked they heard a distant sound. tree →
note
Adjective; noun: distance; adverb: distantly. Opposite: near, close. In maths, distance is how far apart two things are; distant just means far.
In the corpora
- Elephants have excellent memories: old female leaders remember distant water in droughts and recognise friends after many years.
- Elephants hear very low rumbles we cannot hear and feel them through their feet, and they may sense distant thunderstorms.
- The American and the African and Asian porcupines are only distant relatives, and many scientists think they grew quills separately.
- Weather often warns you before it turns dangerous: tall dark clouds, a darkening sky, a sudden cool wind and distant rumbles.
- Some parents are cool or distant: they say little and rarely praise or hug.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «distant» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.