Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Distant in space or time: Located at, or relating to, a great distance away.
   • Abstracted or dreamy: Seeming to be thinking about something else, not fully attentive to the present.

Examples

• Adjective (Distant):
  • She dreamed of traveling to faraway lands.
  • The story is set in the faraway past.
• Adjective (Abstracted):
  • He had a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered his childhood.
  • Her voice sounded faraway, as if her mind was elsewhere.

Advanced Usage

• "faraway look/expression/voice": A common collocation used to describe someone who appears lost in thought or memory, not fully engaged with their immediate surroundings.
  • When asked about her home country, she got a faraway look.

Variants and Related Words

• Far-off (adjective): A synonym meaning very distant in space or time.
  • far-off galaxies
• Farawayness (noun, rare): The state or quality of being faraway.
• Distant (adjective): Similar in meaning, can refer to physical distance or emotional detachment.

Synonyms

• Remote: Far away from centers of population; distant.
• Distant: Far away in space or time.
• Removed: Separated by a distance, especially a great one.

Antonyms

• Nearby: Not far away; close.
• Present: Existing or occurring now; in attendance.
• Attentive: Paying close attention.

Notes on Usage

• "Faraway" is typically used before a noun (as an attributive adjective), e.g., , . It is less common to use it after a linking verb (predicatively), where "far away" (two words) is often preferred for physical distance (e.g., ).
• The abstracted, mental sense is almost always used attributively (before a noun like , , , ).

Adjective

1. far removed mentally
   • a faraway (or distant) look in her eyes
2. very far away in space or time
   • faraway mountains
   • the faraway future
   • troops landing on far-off shores
   • far-off happier times