abstraction
Americannoun
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an abstract or general idea or term.
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the act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances.
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an impractical idea; something visionary and unrealistic.
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the act of taking away or separating; withdrawal.
The sensation of cold is due to the abstraction of heat from our bodies.
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secret removal, especially theft.
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absent-mindedness; inattention; mental absorption.
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Fine Arts.
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the abstract qualities or characteristics of a work of art.
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a work of art, especially a nonrepresentational one, stressing formal relationships.
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noun
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absence of mind; preoccupation
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the process of formulating generalized ideas or concepts by extracting common qualities from specific examples
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an idea or concept formulated in this way
good and evil are abstractions
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logic an operator that forms a class name or predicate from any given expression See also lambda calculus
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an abstract painting, sculpture, etc
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the act of withdrawing or removing
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abstraction
First recorded in 1540–50; from Late Latin abstractiōn-, stem of abstractiō “separation,” literally, “a drawing off,” from abstract(us) “drawn off” + -iō noun suffix; see abstract -ion
Explanation
An abstraction is something nonspecific, a concept that isn't concrete. It can also refer to the state of mind in which a person is not paying attention to something but is lost in thought or daydreaming. Abstraction is the noun from the adjective abstract, which derives from the Latin abstrahere "to divert." From that, we can get the idea that an abstraction is something that is drawn away from concrete reality. In the art world, an abstraction is a painting or musical piece created in the style of expressionism, in which a subject is not realistically presented or even recognized, but rather is suggested by an emotional flow of paint or music.
Vocabulary lists containing abstraction
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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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.
Abstraction meets landscape; painterly application meets rough-and-tumble applications.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
Abstraction, with African or Black abstract artists, means so much more to us.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2023
Abstraction is the process of taking water from a natural source such as a river, burn, loch or underground supply.
From BBC • Aug. 4, 2022
Abstraction was all the rage, but Thompson was eager to kick against orthodoxy.
From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2021
Abstraction, language, how we make decisions, organize our time, focus.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
