dis‧tant W3 / dɪstənt / 形容词

1 far away far away in space or time :

the sound of distant gunfire

Her honeymoon seemed a distant memory .

That affair was in the dim and distant past (= a long time ago ) .

The President hopes to visit Ireland in the not too distant future (= quite soon ) .

distant from

stars that are distant from our galaxy

2 not friendly unfriendly :

After the quarrel Sue remained cold and distant.

3 not concentrating thinking deeply about something private, rather than about what is happening around you :

Geri had a distant look in her eyes.

4 relative [仅用于名词前] not closely related to you 反义词 close :

a distant cousin

5 distant from something different from something or not closely connected with it :

The reality of independence was distant from the hopes they had had.

— distantly 副词 :

We are distantly related .

COLLOCATIONS

名词

the distant past/future (= a long time in the past/future ) It is a fictional story set in the distant past. | In the distant future, there may be a cure for the disease.

a distant memory (= something that happened a long time ago ) Already the summer seemed like a distant memory.

distant mountains/hills From here, you can look out to the distant hills.

a distant planet/galaxy/star They saw telescope images of the distant planet Neptune.

a distant sound Sometimes you can hear the distant sound of traffic from the main road.

distant thunder Distant thunder rumbled over the mountains.

distant places She loved the wild, distant places of Scotland.

a distant land literary (= a country that is a long way away ) He fled to a distant land.

短语

in the dim and distant past humorous (= a long time ago ) Back in the dim and distant past when I was at school, computers didn’t exist.

in the not too distant future (= quite soon ) We’re expecting a final decision in the not too distant future.

THESAURUS

far 副词 a long distance – used mainly in negatives and questions, or after ‘too’, ‘so’, and ‘as’ : It’s not far to the airport from here. | Have you driven far? | The ship was so far away we could hardly see it.

a long way 副词 a long distance from somewhere. This is the most common way of talking about long distances, except in negatives and questions when far is also common : You must be tired – you’ve come a long way. | It’s a long way down from the top of the cliff. | I can’t see things that are a long way away .

miles 副词 informal a very long way : We hiked miles. | The school is miles away from where I live.

in the distance 副词 a long way from where you are now – used when talking about things that seem small or sounds that seem quiet because they are a long way away : Dogs were barking somewhere in the distance.

distant 形容词 especially written used about something that is a long distance from where you are now, and looks small or sounds quiet : By now, the plane was just a distant speck in the sky. | the rumble of distant thunder

faraway 形容词 especially written a very long distance from where you are now : a traveller from a faraway land | His voice sounded faraway. | He told us stories about the faraway countries he had visited.

remote 形容词 a remote place is a long distance from other places, and few people go there : The helicopter crashed in a remote part of the country. | remote holiday destinations

isolated 形容词 an isolated place is a long distance from other towns, buildings, or people, and there is very little communication with surrounding places : isolated rural areas of Nepal | Occasionally we passed through a small isolated village. | If you travel to isolated areas, make sure you have a good guide.

off the beaten track ( also off the beaten path American English ) 副词 a place that is off the beaten track is a long distance from the places where people usually go, and often seems interesting and different because of this : She likes to go to places that are a bit off the beaten track.