abstraction

noun

ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən 

əb-

1

a

: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted

b

: an abstract idea or term

2

: absence of mind or preoccupation

3

: abstract quality or character

4

a

: an abstract composition or creation in art

b

: abstractionism

abstractional

ab-ˈstrak-sh(ə-)nəl 

əb-

adjective

abstractive

ab-ˈstrak-tiv 

ˈab-ˌstrak-

adjective

Did you know?

From its roots, abstraction should mean basically "something pulled or drawn away". So abstract art is art that has moved away from painting objects of the ordinary physical world in order to show something beyond it. Theories are often abstractions; so a theory about economics, for instance, may "pull back" to take a broad view that somehow explains all of economics (but maybe doesn't end up explaining any of it very successfully). An abstract of a medical or scientific article is a one-paragraph summary of its contents—that is, the basic findings "pulled out" of the article.

Synonyms of abstraction

• idea
• concept
• conception
• notion
• thought
• impression

Examples of abstraction in a Sentence

abstraction of data from hospital records

“Beauty” and “truth” are abstractions.

She gazed out the window in abstraction.

Recent Examples on the Web

Illustration lost critical standing with the rise of abstraction, according to Moffatt and author Leo Braudy, professor emeritus of English and art history at USC. — Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Liang Manqi, known for geometric abstraction, presents an installation in which painting spills off the canvas and onto walls, floors and three-dimensional structures. — Denni Hu, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2026

In her earliest draft, which Woolf completed on April 20, 1930, poetry and abstraction have not yet lit everything up, clarifying and confounding in the same moment. — Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026

Affleck’s attempt to bind these three narratives into some grand conclusion, or lesson, about the state of being alive in the world is muddled and overwrought, full of clunky poetry that seems to think abstraction and repetition are keys to meaning. — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, "abduction (of a woman), removal, extraction (of a foreign body from a wound), (in philosophy) process by which the mind is able to form universal representations of the properties of distinct objects," borrowed from Late Latin abstractiōn-, abstractiō, from Latin abstrac- (variant stem of abstrahere "to remove forcibly") + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at abstract entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for abstraction

• attraction
• compaction
• contraction
• detraction
• diffraction
• distraction
• exaction
• extraction
• impaction
• inaction
• infraction
• olfaction

Kids Definition

abstraction

noun

ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən 

1

a

: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted

b

: an abstract idea or term

2

: an artistic composition or creation having designs that do not represent actual objects

abstractive

-ˈstrak-tiv 

adjective