ABSTRACTION Synonyms: 53 Similar and Opposite Words

abstraction

noun

ab-ˈstrak-shən

Definition of abstraction

as in idea

something imagined or pictured in the mind to a people who have lived under one dictatorship after another, democracy and freedom are mere abstractions

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of abstraction As the camera focused on a star player making a touchdown or a slam dunk, the faces of the fans behind them would coalesce into a colorful, murky abstraction. — Ryan Sullivan, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026 Nickless moves between recognizable images and abstraction throughout the show. — Erin Parish, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026 Architectural decisions can be convictions, too, if they are made at a high enough level of abstraction. — Amir Wain, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026 Lovely Butterfly moves between the tactility of personal letters and abstraction of aerial digital maps, mediating the scales of intimacy and distance. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for abstraction

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstraction

Noun

The main idea of the company is to automate parts of these missions so personnel can concentrate on operational decisions rather than manually managing every aspect of a drone’s flight or sensor operation.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2026
Today, Sarah Stewart and Anthony Cataldo keep the spirit of Perse’s original idea alive in the West Hollywood store.

— Viv Chen, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of idea

Noun

No accident that the likes of Lisa Yuskavage, Sasha Gordon, and Mulligan are regularly invoked in accounts of cringe-adjacent concepts like abjection, disturbance, disquiet.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Precisely 14 years after launching the Sacramento Burger Battle, Rodney Blackwell is back with a new burger concept, as well as a new takeout ordering platform designed for small food businesses.

— Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of concept

Noun

In the 1960s and 1970s, women’s rights activists worked to change the public conception of rape.

— Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
Margaret’s belief that Carrie is inherently evil because her conception wasn’t too far from rape is gone, along with Carrie’s awkwardness and chubbiness (and King’s suggestion that even fat girls can be desirable).

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of conception

Noun

But Kazan has a different notion of this character, one that the director explores and complicates through extended flashbacks to Cathy’s childhood.

— Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2026
That milestone will demonstrate that electric aviation is no longer a futuristic notion but an emerging reality.

— Robb Report, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of notion

Noun

Sympathy comes later, unleashed in 18th-century thought through Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759).

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Those 20 words--all but three of them single syllables--summon a flood of thoughts and images and memories and ruminations.

— Dana Kelley, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of thought

Noun

More than half of people using AI at work worried that using it on important tasks would create exactly that impression.

— Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
Then again, the album’s 15-minute runtime presupposes a complete lasting impression isn’t the point.

— Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of impression

Browse Nearby Words

abstracting

abstraction

abstractions

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“Abstraction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstraction. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of abstraction

noun

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