absurdity

noun

ab·​sur·​di·​ty əb-ˈsər-də-tē  -ˈzər- 

plural absurdities

1

: the quality or state of being absurd : absurdness

They laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

2

: something that is absurd

the absurdities of life

Synonyms of absurdity

• insanity
• idiocy

Examples of absurdity in a Sentence

to say men can't cook as well as women is of course an absurdity

the absurdity of expecting a 98-year-old woman to adequately supervise four six-year-olds

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike Gregor Samsa who is confined to his room after transforming into a huge insect, the protagonist still has to go to work, a dark and bleak absurdity that lays bare the alienation, isolation, and hypocrisy of modern life. — Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

Luhansk, this terra incognita of the independent Ukraine, is described in almost carnivalesque terms, but this is a carnival infused with absurdity and even cruelty. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026

Adding to the dark absurdity of the situation was the fact that Seghers’s husband, the Hungarian Marxist scholar László Radványi, was being held in a French internment camp, on the basis that Hungary was a German ally. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Savage’s movie is so committed to its own absurdity that the extraordinary begins to feel mundane. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English absurditee "dissonance, unjust practice," borrowed from Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French absurdité, borrowed from Late Latin absurditāt-, absurditās, from Latin absurdus absurd entry 1 + -itāt-, -itās -ity

First Known Use

circa 1525, in the meaning defined at sense 2