absentmindedness.

A tendency to overlook immediate details because attention is occupied elsewhere.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• habitual absentmindedness
• a moment of absentmindedness

On the page

In a moment of absentmindedness, she put the unsigned form with the completed ones.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common.