Most of the executives attended the meeting, but the company president was 'conspicuously absent'. [='conspicuous by his absence'; it was very noticeable that the company president was not there]
The soldier was 'absent without leave'. [='AWOL'; absent without having permission to be absent]
He made an 'absent' reply to her question as he continued to watch the TV.
(..) Here we are... Don't want you to catch cold. A five minute game? If you think you can manage it. We both have two bishops, I may be absent from the room... But my methods are not. You can't mean Dr. Watson... Surely? So it doesn't seem fair. Right ... The surgury would've left scars. (..)2011 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows