absence

To be noticeably missing from something. You're the loudest one in the class, so of course you're conspicuous by your absence!

A separation causes one to feel even more positive about the absent person or thing. We'll see if absence makes the heart grow fonder after our time apart. I really started to miss school over winter break. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess.

Prov. You will like someone or something better if that person or thing is far away. Ever since Carla's boyfriend moved away, she can't stop thinking about him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Cliché noticeably absent (from an event). (*Typically: be ~; made ~.) How could the bride's father miss the wedding? He was certainly conspicuous by his absence.

while someone or something isn't here; without someone or something. In the absence of the cook, I'll prepare dinner. In the absence of opposition, she won easily.

a period of time away from one's job, with the employer's permission. Mr. Takaguchi is on leave of absence because he is going back to school. His leave of absence is expected to end next month.

to say good-bye to someone and leave. I took leave of the hostess at an early hour. One by one, the guests took their leave.

to use time permitted to be away from work For the first time fathers are allowed to take leave to care for new babies or for seriously ill children. Employees must tell employers ahead of time that they plan to take a leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

to go away from a gathering Barlow could only manage a few brief words before taking his leave of this group of happy supporters.

something that you say which means being apart from someone that you love makes you love them even more 'My boyfriend's going to South America and I won't see him for six months.' 'Ah well, absence makes the heart grow fonder.'

if someone is conspicuous by their absence, people notice that they are not present in a place where they are expected to be Helen was conspicuous by her absence at the meeting yesterday.

Separation intensifies love, as in After a year in another country she accepted his proposal, so I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder , or, used ironically, The boss leaves earlier every day; oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Although versions of this saying date from Roman times, it only became popular after Thomas Haynes Bayly used it as the last line of a song in The Isle of Beauty (1850). The opposite sentiment is expressed by familiarity breeds contempt.

Also, conspicuous by one's absence. Glaringly obvious by the fact of not being there. For example, One agenda item concerning publicity is conspicuous by its absence, or The bride's father was conspicuous by his absence. The idea is ancient; it was expressed by the Roman writer Tacitus, concerning the absence of Junia's brother and husband at her funeral procession. [Mid-1800s]

Very obvious through nonattendance. This oxymoron, which goes back to ancient Rome, applies to people or objects that attracted attention because they were expected to be present but weren't. An example would be a close relative who either wasn't invited or chose not to attend a family function. Some literary commentators contend that the phrase has become a cliché, but it's now used so rarely, you may—although at your peril—claim its wit to be your own.