[en] We are concerned here with the role of the absorption in modifying the Airy-like shape of both the Coulomb and the nuclear rainbow angular distributions. The starting point of the present analysis is the quasi-classical limit of the high energy scattering amplitude. Using simple parametrizations for both the deflection function and the modulus of the S-matrix, one evaluates the resulting amplitude in the uniform approximation. This yields for the scattering cross-section a closed analytical expression suitable for a qualitative understanding of the angular distributions