absurd

adjective ab·surd \ əb-ˈsərd , -ˈzərd \

Definition of absurd

1 :ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

an absurd argument

:extremely silly or ridiculous

absurd humor

2 :having no rational or orderly relationship to human life :meaningless

an absurd universe

; also :lacking order or value

an absurd existence

3 :dealing with the absurd (see ²absurd) or with absurdism

absurd theater

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absurdly

adverb

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absurdness

noun

See absurd defined for English-language learners

See absurd defined for kids

Examples of absurd in a Sentence

In an era when federal judges issue rulings that in their impact often rival the lawmaking of any legislature in the land, it is increasingly absurd that their proceedings should remain off-limits to the same wider public scrutiny that news cameras have brought to courts in 48 states. —Editor & Publisher, 14 July 2003
By the time Showalter was fired one day after the end of last season, the stories of how he carried his attention to detail to absurd lengths—including his insistence that the A on the players' socks be completely visible—had been well circulated. —Phil Taylor, Sports Illustrated, 30 July 2001
This criticism, patently absurd to anyone who has read even a handful of Updike's more than 40 books, nevertheless has been made so often that it is worth Pritchard's long rebuttal. —Jonathan Wilson, New York Times Book Review, 24 Sept. 2000
Yet from time to time, virtually every parent falls back on threats, often absurd ones that leave Mom and Dad feeling foolish and the problem unresolved. —Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Parenting, December/January 1996
The charges against him are obviously absurd.
absurd claims of having been abducted by UFO's

Recent Examples of absurd from the Web

Somehow, in fiction, the cadences are just too absurd to be true.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "Basket of Deplorables Riffs on Trump's America," 29 Aug. 2017
The idea that this task would be turned over to an assistant and handled so casually is absurd under any circumstance, but especially when Kushner was well aware that any contacts with Russians would be of great importance and interest.

— jeff darcy, cleveland.com, "Kushner's transparency is shady: Darcy cartoon," 25 July 2017
Yet in a growing number of fragile new democracies, especially in Africa, where similarly absurd results were once common, elections have become genuine.

— The Economist, "Make monitors matter," 20 July 2017
Stand-up comic Tig Notaro works incredibly clean and equally dry, with a feel for the awkwardly absurd.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "Raekwon leads Louisville's Top 5 shows for July 20-26," 18 July 2017
After reviewing the company’s IPO filing, critics described the $25 billion valuation as downright absurd.

— farnoosh torabi, Fortune, "Buying ‘Cool’ Stocks Like Snap and Blue Apron Is Dumb," 18 July 2017
Add your observations (actual or absurd) to the comment stream.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "When caterpillars attack! A precious plant pays the price," 17 July 2017
Though the CBO hasn’t yet scored the new version of the BCRA, the mere existence of the Cruz amendment, plus the gutting of Medicaid that remains a centerpiece of the bill, makes Price’s claim absurd on its face.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Tom Price on Health Care Bill: Up Is Down," 16 July 2017
Given that there are nine male rappers in the top 10 this week alone, this is absurd.

— patrick crowley, Billboard, "13 Ladies We'd Like To See Crash the Male Dominated Charts," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'absurd.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Making Sense of absurd

Absurd contains the rarer related adjective surd, which, like absurd, derives from the Latin surdus ("deaf, silent, stupid").

Surd can mean "lacking sense or irrational," much like absurd:

While the grandparents might scratch their heads at the Star Wars references, the actors and perhaps some younger parents likely delighted in manic, jumbled and surd structure of the play.
–Patrick Clement, Kiowa County Signal (Greensburg, Kansas), 23 Jan. 2013

Absurd, however, stresses a lack of logical sense or harmonious agreement, of parts (such as a premise and a conclusion) not fitting together. In philosophy, it describes the problem of trying to distill meaning from one's experiences. In A Discourse on Novelty and Creation (1975), Carl R. Hausman writes, "There is an incongruity, an inconsistency, a conflict with a context that appears as lawful, orderly experience. As [Albert] Camus points out, absurdity 'springs from a comparison,' a comparison between two aspects of reality which seem to be out of harmony."

Origin and Etymology of absurd

borrowed from Middle French absurde, going back to Old French absorde, borrowed from Latin absurdus "out of tune, uncouth, inappropriate, ridiculous," from ab- ab- + surdus "unhearing, deaf, muffled, dull" — more at ¹surd

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1530

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absurd Synonyms

Synonyms

fantastic, bizarre, crazy, fanciful, foolish, insane, nonsensical, preposterous, unreal, wild

Antonyms

realistic, reasonable

Related Words

implausible, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unimaginable, unthinkable; extravagant, grotesque; bizarro, curious, eccentric, far-out, funny, kinky, kooky (also kookie), odd, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, screwy, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird; farcical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous; Alice-in-Wonderland, Kafkaesque, nightmarish; dreamlike, surreal

Near Antonyms

brainy, bright, clever, intelligent, smart; logical, rational, reasonable, valid; well-advised

absurd

noun ab·surd \ əb-ˈsərd , -ˈzərd \

Definition of absurd

:the state or condition in which human beings exist in an irrational and meaningless universe and in which human life has no ultimate meaning —usually used with the

the theater of the absurd

Origin and Etymology of absurd

borrowed from French (l')absurde, derivative of absurde ¹absurd

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1946

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ABSURD Defined for Kids

absurd

adjective ab·surd \ əb-ˈsərd , -ˈzərd \

Definition of absurd for Students

:completely foolish, unreasonable, or untrue :ridiculous

His claims are absurd.

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absurdly

adverb

Synonym Discussion of absurd

absurd, foolish, and silly mean not showing good sense. absurd is used when something is not in keeping with common sense, good reasoning, or accepted ideas.