one that is absent or not in residence

One who absents himself from his country, office, post, or duty; especially, a landholder who lives in another country or district than that where his estate is situated; as, an Irish absentee.

One who is away or keeps away purposely from home or duty.

One who lives away from his estate or his office.

One who is absent from his country, estate, or post: applied more particularly, and frequently by way of reproach, to one who lives abroad or away from the district from which he derives his living.

The country was pillaged by absent landlords, and " the mere hint of an absentee tax was sufficient to throw the younger Pitt into convulsions." – The Life of Froude by Herbert Paul

His Celtic blood fired, and he muttered a few uncomplimentary remarks about the reverend absentee, which it is well not to repeat. – The Thorogood Family by R.M. Ballantyne

He had been an absentee at Norfolk Island- a convict. – When Ghost Meets Ghost by William Frend De Morgan

Absentee landlordism is not generally popular with men who are seeking paying investments. – The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.

One could but think that gnomes stole out at night from holes under the hills, to till the land for absentee owners; for the illimitable fields were cultivated down to the last inch. – The Car of Destiny by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

The great proprietor is an absentee, and he has little time for either literature or science. – Letters on International Copyright; Second Edition by Henry C. Carey