ad absurdum

American  

[ad ab-sur-duhm] / æd æbˈsɜr dəm /

adverb

1. to the point of absurdity.

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ad absurdum Cultural  

1. An argument whereby one seeks to prove one's position by pointing out the absurdity or foolishness of an opponent's position. Also, an argument carried to such lengths that it becomes silly or ridiculous. From Latin, meaning “to absurdity.”

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Etymology

Origin of ad absurdum

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin: literally, “to (the) absurd”

Example Sentences

He seems to have viewed superdeterminism as a reductio ad absurdum proposition, which highlights the strangeness of quantum mechanics.

From Scientific American • Mar. 10, 2022

But that reductio ad absurdum argument is not enough when millions of people have already accepted the absurdity.

From Slate • Oct. 22, 2021

It’s the reductio ad absurdum of Neumann’s “capitalist kibbutz”: Everyone is deserving of “growth,” but some are apparently more deserving than others.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2020

To some, the arguments over "that damned meteorite" represent diminishing returns, a reductio ad absurdum with no way out of a particularly complicated labyrinth.

From Salon • Jun. 13, 2020

They indulge as well in reductio ad absurdum, the logical practice of taking any premise to an extreme, and in various sorts of combinatorial word play.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos