Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of absurdity
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English absurdite, from Middle French, from Late Latin absurditās; absurd + -ity
Explanation
An absurdity is something ridiculously foolish. The U.S. declaring war on Fiji would be an absurdity. This is the noun form of the adjective absurd, which means silly, hard-to-believe, and kind of crazy. Unless it's Halloween, it would be an absurdity to show up to school in a chicken suit. If your teacher taught math class with a fake French accent, that would also be an absurdity. A lot of comedies are full of absurdities, because an absurdity can be funny. If you're good at thinking of absurdities, maybe you should be a comedy writer.
Vocabulary lists containing absurdity
Stargirl
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"The Witches" by Roald Dahl, Chapters 1–5
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Vocabulary from the Sixth Democratic Debate, February 11, 2016
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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.
Absurdity aside, there’s no denying its beautiful ending: Keiko, swimming with his brethren, reimmersed in the wild waters near Iceland.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 12, 2021
Absurdity is the compulsion to go looking for meaning that simply isn’t there.
From Washington Post • Aug. 11, 2017
Absurdity coexists with logic, appalled or astonished bafflement blend with efforts at analytical comprehension of practicalities and motives.
From The New Yorker • May 30, 2017
Autographs and Absurdity at Annual SEC Media Days HOOVER, Ala. — The woman wearing the houndstooth bra did not show up this year.
From New York Times • Jul. 21, 2012
As many of our News-Papers are charged with playing Tricks with the Publick, I shall make bold to mention a few of them; and they are chiefly these, Falsity, Absurdity, and Trifling.
From The Tricks of the Town: or, Ways and Means of getting Money by Thomson, John, fl. 1732
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.
