preposterous

adjective

pre·​pos·​ter·​ous pri-ˈpä-st(ə-)rəs 

: contrary to nature, reason, or common sense : absurd

preposterously adverb

preposterousness noun

Synonyms

• absurd
• bizarre
• crazy
• fanciful
• fantastic
• fantastical
• foolish
• insane
• nonsensical
• unreal
• wild

Examples of preposterous in a Sentence

The whole idea is preposterous!

the idea that extraterrestrials built the pyramids is preposterous

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet prosecutor Smith has spun a preposterous argument that Judge Tanya Chutkan appears to have accepted. —Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 10 Feb. 2024

The English critics, for their part, loved the English story but found the Jewish one preposterous. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 30 Jan. 2024

The film actually tests this out, with spectacularly preposterous results. —Jordan Moreau, Variety, 1 Nov. 2023

Nathan Lane once again plays to the rafters as Ward McAllister, a mercenary high-society influencer with a preposterous mustache and a Foghorn Leghorn drawl. —EW.com, 27 Oct. 2023

That is, at first glance, a preposterous question regarding an event that has been dominated by men for much of its seven-decade history. —George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024

Screenwriter/director David Ayer relishes in going wildly over the top in preposterous ways, amping up the violence to ridiculous extremes and never allowing the audience to come up for air. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2024

Arguing that the decline of certain corners of a previous version of the internet means that the entire internet isn’t entertaining anymore is a preposterous leap. —Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 23 Dec. 2023

There was a business card for the local Quick Cuts and Turkish lira bills in preposterous denominations—ten million, twenty million—from the time before the government slashed six zeros from the currency. —Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin praeposterus, literally, in the wrong order, from prae- + posterus hinder, following — more at posterior

First Known Use

1533, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

preposterous

adjective

pre·​pos·​ter·​ous pri-ˈpäs-t(ə-)rəs 

: making little or no sense : absurd

preposterously adverb

preposterousness noun

Etymology

from Latin praeposterus, literally, "having the rear part in front," from prae- "in front, before" and posterus "coming behind, following"

Word Origin

The familiar expression "putting the cart before the horse" comes very close to the literal sense of the word preposterous. The Romans formed their Latin adjective praeposterus from prae-, meaning "before," and posterus, meaning "following." They at first used it to mean "having that first which ought to be last," like having a cart ahead of the horse that is pulling it. Praeposterus was used to describe something that was out of the normal or logical order or position. From this developed the more general sense of "ridiculous, absurd." These meanings were borrowed into English in the 16th century. Although preposterous is seldom used in its literal sense nowadays, we still use it to describe something that seems so unreasonable as to be ridiculous.