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In essence it should communicate that someone is mostly preoccupied with his field of study and does not care much about other things going around him. He is an expert in his field but is not interested in "mundane" things. This leads to e.g.:

  • Having messy, wild hair.
  • Not caring how old the clothes are that he wears.
  • Not interested in fulfilling other social norms.

The word does not have to include all the points but only the meaning put in bold letters, the rest kind of follows from that. It does not imply any madness or megalomania. Also the connotation should not be negative.

Example usage with adjective: Professor Smith is really ____ , but he is one of the best professors I know because he can engage students in a way that other lecturers cannot.

Example usage with noun: Professor Smith is a real ____ , but he is one of the best professors I know because he can engage students in a way that other lecturers cannot.

problemofficer - n.f. Monica
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    Hello, problemofficer. ELU expects one distinct question at a time. You seem to be cunningly lumping several here; there is not going to be a word meaning precisely 'having messy, wild hair and not caring much about other subjects beside his own field of study'. 'Professorial' has the sense 'looking or behaving like a professor' (amongst others), but assumes that they all behave the same way; this may be as close as you can get, but it's pretty unspecific. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 04 '17 at 17:29
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    If you are truly looking for a single word, (or phrase) please edit your question to include a sentence showing how the word would be used (put an X or ___ where the word would go.) – Roger Sinasohn Jul 04 '17 at 17:36
  • 'Mad professor'? – marcellothearcane Jul 04 '17 at 17:38
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    You may find eccentric and absent-minded useful. – Steve Lovell Jul 04 '17 at 18:02
  • This sounds like an appeal to the stereotype of someone´s idea of Einstein, or the Jerry Lewis portrayal of the mad professor. What garbage. Look elsewhere. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jul 05 '17 at 02:50
  • @EdwinAshworth: I rephrased the question to ask for only one adjective/noun – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 03:12
  • @RogerSinasohn: I added an example that is hopefully useful. – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 03:13
  • @marcellothearcane: No, not mad. He does not have to be mad. It can be a normal friendly person, just not really caring about anything much outside his field of study. – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 03:13
  • @Cascabel: Can you please explain why this question is "garbage"? – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 03:14
  • @Cascabel: I am looking for a word to describe a phenomenon, that is all. If you are "sick of this", then feel free not to comment or answer this question. Preoccupation with one's field often does lead to not being interested in other things and this e.g. includes acquiring skills on what clothing to wear or what color combination look good. This does not have to be a negative connotation but is a fact. Therefore it is useful to have a word to describe this. Imo your emotional outbursts are not conductive to an objective discussion. – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 03:38
  • And btw, it is "conducive", not conductive, unless you are a live wire. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jul 05 '17 at 04:18
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    @Cascabel Thank you for the correction of "conductive". – problemofficer - n.f. Monica Jul 05 '17 at 04:22
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    Just as it is considered inappropriate to ask for adjectives to describe sterotypical "dykes" or "pansies" or "retards", I do not think this post asking for adjectives to describe people with border line personality disorder is appropriate either. It is insensitive and demeaning. IMHO – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jul 05 '17 at 04:40
  • @problemofficer I've always used 'mad professor' to mean someone like that - not actually mad in the sense of abnormal, just a little eccentric or whatever. – marcellothearcane Jul 05 '17 at 07:16

2 Answers2

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The popular term, I think, is absent-minded professor, reinforced by the movie of the same name. Per Wikipedia:

The absent-minded professor is a stock character of popular fiction, usually portrayed as a talented academic whose academic brilliance is accompanied by below-par functioning in other areas, leading to forgetfulness and mistakes.

And just to be complete, absent-minded from Oxford Dictionaries:

absent-minded

ADJECTIVE

Having or showing a forgetful or inattentive disposition.
‘an absent-minded smile’
‘Tal sighed: no one would ever let him forget how absent-minded he could be.’
‘This is no absent-minded professor, lost in the world of abstraction.’

Roger Sinasohn
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2

Their clothes might be disheveled:

(of a person's hair, clothes, or appearance) untidy; disordered.

As you can see here, they may be a monomaniac:

someone with an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like

Asocial describes someone who prefers:

avoiding social interaction

I don't think there's a single word for all these words, but some pithy description might suffice, depending on the context.

Definitions from Oxford unless stated otherwise.

marcellothearcane
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