All 3 Uses of
abstract
in
The Great Gatsby
- Gatsby took an arm of each of us and moved forward into the restaurant, whereupon Mr. Wolfshiem swallowed a new sentence he was starting and lapsed into a somnambulatory abstraction.
p. 69.9abstraction = an instance of being lost in thoughteditor's notes: Somnambulatory refers to sleepwalking, so Wolfsheim is described as being lost in thought while moving along in a very sleepy state.
- If he left the room for a minute she'd look around uneasily, and say: "Where's Tom gone?" and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door.
p. 77.1 *abstracted = distracted (thinking about something outside of the immediate conversation or circumstances)
- "It was — simply amazing," she repeated abstractedly.†
p. 52.6 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(abstract as in: abstract thought) of a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
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(2)
(abstract as in: read the abstract) a summary; or to summarize -- especially academic writing
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(3)
(abstract as in: abstract art) not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature
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(4)
(abstracted as in: abstracted, so didn't notice) lost in thought; or distracted by thoughts
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(5)
(abstracted as in: abstracted his wallet) removed
- (6) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)