adjective
- far off or apart in space; not near at hand; remote or removed (often followed by from): a distant place; a town three miles distant from here.
- apart or far off in time: distant centuries past.
- remote or far apart in any respect: a distant relative.
- reserved or aloof; not familiar or cordial: a distant greeting.
- arriving from or going to a distance, as a communication, journey, etc.: I have here a distant letter from Japan.
adjective
- far away or apart in space or time
- (postpositive) separated in space or time by a specified distance
- apart in relevance, association, or relationshipa distant cousin
- coming from or going to a faraway placea distant journey
- remote in manner; aloof
- abstracted; absenta distant look
late 14c., from Old French distant (14c.), from Latin distantem (nominative distans), present participle of distare “to stand apart, be remote” (see distance (n.)). Related: Distantly.