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 In junkspace, Koolhaas argues, formal strategies associated with modern art and design—abstraction, functionalism, fragmentation, radical juxtaposition—are hastily and unceremoniously redeployed in the ordinary language of commerce. — Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026 To take such a thing seriously in this age of nihilism and disenchantment betrays a person as potentially unserious, someone committed to abstraction, to feeling over logic and material reality. — Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026 Preliterate people don’t focus on such abstractions as taking a periodic population census and recording it for posterity. — James Coffin, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026 The other songs play out at a higher level of abstraction and metaphor. — Sean Wilentz, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for abstraction

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstraction

Noun

Members of the Democratic and Republican parties say the country and political system are better off when candidates and their ideas are tested.

— Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
The modular laptop display system is not an entirely new idea, and there are some existing products on the market that offer detachable portable screens.

— Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of idea

Noun

That gave the company confidence that a GS3 based on composite tanks was a concept that could go forward, and now the company is aiming for a debut in 2028 for a government customer.

— Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 6 Nov. 2026
Insurance companies design products like annuities around the concept of risk pooling in order to remain profitable.

— Jeff Stevenson, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of concept

Noun

In this conception of macroeconomics, the economy consists of a massive input-output table where every cell in the matrix is a sector that consumes other cells’ outputs and provides inputs to other producers.

— Oliver Melton, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2026
Perspective Films also offers guidance at every step of the filmmaking process from conception to release.

— Jack Dunn, Variety, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of conception

Noun

Some progressive members of the Illinois delegation pushed back on the notion that the results of the midterms were more of a rejection of Trump than an embrace of Democrats and their policies.

— Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune, 8 Nov. 2026
That brought closer to reality the once-unthinkable notion that the ANC that led South Africa out of the white minority rule of apartheid and delivered freedom in 1994 under Mandela might one day not be its biggest party.

— Gerald Imray, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of notion

Noun

Their room was only a hundred and forty square feet, but Trombecky thought of the Odyssey’s two restaurants as her dining room and the ship’s library as a living room.

— Shayla Love, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026
Our thoughts are with those affected directly by this incident.

— Tristan Maglunog, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of thought

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 14 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of abstraction

noun

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