Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In an inattentive manner; without attention; carelessly; heedlessly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In an inattentive manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in an absentminded or preoccupied manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

inattentive +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • The taxiing aircraft smashed into some brickwork after lurching to avoid Dad as he inattentively wheeled a bicycle across the airfield.

    My dad, the revolutionary disciple of indie rock 2011

  • The kitchen, inattentively watched over by chef Robert Gadsby, wholly disrespects oysters.

    Mussel Bar: Wiedmaier's latest is a letdown, bar none Tom Sietsema 2010

  • So how, precisely, do I find myself the father of a teenage owner of one five-year-old, skewbald, equine quadruped, about 13 hands tall, who answers, rather inattentively, to the name Buttons?

    History, Horses and the Luck of the Irish 2010

  • So how, precisely, do I find myself the father of a teenage owner of one 5-year-old, skewbald, equine quadruped, about 13 hands tall, who answers, rather inattentively, to the name Buttons?

    Finding the Next Winner Lucy Pawle 2010

  • Consequently, the homelands and histories of people who lived beyond the narrow corridor of the "Swahili Coast" have been inattentively referred to and historically glossed as the hinterland.

    Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

  • On a recent Monday night here, the crowd at Rockwood Music Hall, still enjoying a few drinks and conversation after work, buzzed inattentively as

    Meet Iceland's Other Songstress Margaret Lough 2010

  • Although I smiled and chatted whenever I went in I was treated rudely and inattentively.

    Green Villains 2008

  • Adam Davidson, a correspondent for public radio's "Marketplace" program, said that he recently caught the security guards at the house he shares with other journalists lounging around inattentively.

    Shark Attacks 2007

  • The lawyer proudly raised his head and looked at the strange lady; then, as he took his seat at his ease near Madame de Vaudremont, he listened to her so inattentively that he did not catch these words spoken behind her fan:

    Domestic Peace 2007

  • The lawyer proudly raised his head and looked at the strange lady; then, as he took his seat at his ease near Madame de Vaudremont, he listened to her so inattentively that he did not catch these words spoken behind her fan:

    Domestic Peace 2007

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