/ˈæbsəns/ noun
a situation in which someone is not at their school, office, a meeting etc
ADJECTIVES
a long absence
Henry returned to school after a long absence.
a lengthy/prolonged absence (=unusually long)
Her prolonged absences were causing concern among her colleagues.
a brief/short absence
He had a brief absence from work after his first child was born.
a temporary absence
No one noticed her temporary absence from the meeting.
frequent absences
His job involves frequent absences from home.
repeated absences
Ian’s repeated absences from work got him into trouble with his boss.
a continued absence
They became concerned about Helen’s continued absence from school.
an enforced absence formal (=caused by something you cannot control)
Williams’ enforced absence due to injury caused problems for the team.
an unexplained absence (=without giving a reason)
They had no choice but to sack him after his unexplained absences from the factory.
an unauthorized absence formal (=one without permission)
It was counted as an unauthorized absence because he had not informed his manager.
VERBS
explain your absence
He explained his absence from class by saying that he had not been feeling well.
apologize for your absence
Jim apologized for his absence from last week’s meeting.
NOUNS + absence
sickness absence
Employers are looking at ways of reducing sickness absence.
PREPOSITIONS
absence from school/work etc
His absence from work was due to illness.
during/in sb’s absence
During my absence, Sally Greene will be in charge of the office.
PHRASES
a week’s/month’s absence
After several weeks’ absence, he returned home.
a period of absence
Workers receive sick pay for each period of absence caused by illness.
a reason/explanation for your absence
His explanation for his absence was not very convincing.
be conspicuous by your absence (=be absent from somewhere, in a way that seems very noticeable)
The US ambassador was conspicuous by her absence at the conference.
a situation in which someone or something does not exist
ADJECTIVES
a complete/total absence of sth
There was a complete absence of windows and very little light entered the room.
a virtual absence of sth (=almost none)
There is still a virtual absence of female employees.
a relative/comparative absence of sth
There is a relative absence of trees in this city.
a notable/conspicuous/marked absence of sth (=very noticeable)
Despite a conspicuous absence of information to support his theories, many people accepted them as being true.
PREPOSITIONS
an absence of sth
An absence of clean water has meant that the disease is very common in this part of the world.
in the absence of sth
In the absence of any other evidence, they assumed that the man was innocent.
Absence or lack?
In many sentences, you can use lack instead of absence. For example you can say a lack of information or an absence of information. Absence sounds more formal than lack. Absence is also stronger – it
usually means there is none at all, whereas lack means there is not enough of something.