preposterous

[ pri-pos-ter-uhs, -truhs ]

adjective

1. completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; utterly foolish; absurd; senseless:

   a preposterous tale.

   Synonyms: ridiculous, excessive, unreasonable

preposterous

/ prɪˈpɒstərəs /

adjective

1. contrary to nature, reason, or sense; absurd; ridiculous

Derived Forms

• preˈposterousness, noun
• preˈposterously, adverb

Other Words From

• pre·poster·ous·ly adverb
• pre·poster·ous·ness noun
• unpre·poster·ous adjective
• unpre·poster·ous·ly adverb
• unpre·poster·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin praeposterus “inverted, reversed, perverted, perverse,” literally, “with the rear part first”; pre-, posterior, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous¹

C16: from Latin praeposterus reversed, from prae in front, before + posterus following

Synonym Study

See absurd.

Example Sentences

Some cough up preposterous jury awards, while others lay bare the egregious failures of the criminal justice system.

From The Daily Beast

I am genuinely curious if any of the preposterous ramifications of what he is saying even occur to Kennedy.

From The Daily Beast

I found the whole idea so preposterous I even Tweeted about it.

From The Daily Beast

By 1994, the league slugging percentage was a preposterous .424, the highest since 1930.

From The Daily Beast

“Trying to patch the current system is preposterous and destined for failure,” said Dr. Damania.

From The Daily Beast

But he made it most emphatically clear that the thing Alessandro had asked was not only out of the question, but preposterous.

From Project Gutenberg

And I, for one, absolutely decline to believe in this preposterous story of his about a bull-dog.

From Project Gutenberg

He knew his world too well to make preposterous mental demands upon it.

From Project Gutenberg

For this was the preposterous nature of the imposition, and she claimed to have given birth to no less than eighteen of them.

From Project Gutenberg

Her hope had been to escape loneliness, but with this preposterous secret, she was lonelier than she had ever been before.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• absurd
• crazy
• excessive
• fantastic
• foolish
• impossible
• incredible
• insane
• irrational
• laughable
• ludicrous
• nonsensical
• outrageous
• senseless
• shocking
• silly
• stupid
• unbelievable
• unreasonable
• unthinkable