absurd
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
at variance with reason; manifestly false
-
ludicrous; ridiculous
noun
Related Words
Absurd, ridiculous, preposterous all mean inconsistent with reason or common sense. Absurd means utterly opposed to truth or reason: an absurd claim. Ridiculous implies that something is fit only to be laughed at, perhaps contemptuously: a ridiculous suggestion. Preposterous implies an extreme of foolishness: a preposterous proposal.
Other Word Forms
- absurdity noun
- absurdly adverb
- absurdness noun
- superabsurd adjective
- superabsurdly adverb
- superabsurdness noun
Etymology
Origin of absurd
First recorded in 1550–60, absurd is from the Latin word absurdus out of tune, uncouth, ridiculous. See ab-, surd
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rugged individualists’ arguments run the gamut from a sincere nostalgia — many chairs designed and installed in the 20th century didn’t even have safety bars, they note — to the intentionally absurd.
From Los Angeles Times
Plori called it "absurd" to ban one of the platforms most used by young Albanians "without taking into account how the internet actually works today".
From Barron's
I roll my eyes to show how absurd that is.
From Literature
But it is morally and politically absurd that any of us should expect that of these people.
From Los Angeles Times
“It’s like an absurd picnic,” one woman in Tehran said.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
