as in notions
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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Recent Examples of abstractions
From the mid-1970s onward, Hayward largely produced monochrome abstractions.
—
Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
When the news breaks of faraway civilian casualties — an erroneous air strike on a school that relied on outdated intelligence, for example — the mind takes refuge in abstractions and statistics.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Seidle sketches out miniature worlds on his Casio with the oblong abstractions of a kindergartener doodling on a piece of paper, his primitive songs existing in a kind of nascent pre-genre state.
—Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 2 Apr. 2026
People are reduced to abstractions or enemies.
—Andrew Behar, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
Two, the issue of climate change broadly and emissions more specifically are also not just abstractions.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026
Most of what happens in AI happens behind closed doors in conference rooms, and on server farms, and in the heads of people who think in abstractions most of us can barely comprehend.
—Joe Hagan, Vanity Fair, 18 Mar. 2026
The families in these shelters are not abstractions in a policy debate.
—Ken Toltz, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
When the news breaks of faraway civilian casualties — an erroneous air strike on a school that relied on outdated intelligence, for example — the mind takes refuge in abstractions and statistics.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Seidle sketches out miniature worlds on his Casio with the oblong abstractions of a kindergartener doodling on a piece of paper, his primitive songs existing in a kind of nascent pre-genre state.
—Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 2 Apr. 2026
People are reduced to abstractions or enemies.
—Andrew Behar, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
Two, the issue of climate change broadly and emissions more specifically are also not just abstractions.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026
Most of what happens in AI happens behind closed doors in conference rooms, and on server farms, and in the heads of people who think in abstractions most of us can barely comprehend.
—Joe Hagan, Vanity Fair, 18 Mar. 2026
The families in these shelters are not abstractions in a policy debate.
—Ken Toltz, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstractions
Noun
-
Additionally, curiosity prompts individuals to question assumptions and challenge preconceived notions, thereby reducing the influence of bias in decision-making processes.—
Rebecca Ahmed,
Big Think,
22 Apr. 2026
-
As the Paramount upfront meetings commence, the company appears poised to keep them and is not at present entertaining any notions of returning to the days when CBS held court in front of advertisers at Carnegie Hall.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The work demonstrates that mathematical ideas from classical physics can be used to describe weird and ‘spooky’ behavior that is often attributed to quantum particles.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Every Gothic cathedral is the product of ideas that altered over generations, ambitions abandoned or superseded, compromises with ballooning budgets, labor shortages, or bottlenecks in the supply chain from quarries and forests and mines.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
With Brazzell in the mix, the Panthers can get creative with their route concepts.—
Mike Kaye
April 26,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Apr. 2026
-
China makes its own SpiderFab But concepts like SpiderFab could, in theory, completely change all that.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Such visions pull our minds into journeys of light-years and thoughts far beyond or grounded world.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
As wedding season approaches, thoughts of popping the question intensify for those looking to go from just dating to the joyful vows of a lifetime together.—
Kari Barnett,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Some say the country is a secular republic founded on 18th-century conceptions of human reason and natural law.—
Thomas Tweed,
The Conversation,
24 Apr. 2026
-
In reaction against the waste of life and ill-success of Mazzini’s program, moderate opinion tended to crystallize around federal conceptions of the solution of the Italian problem.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The housekeepers greet me with genuine care, the bartenders create cocktails with panache and smiles, and the doormen and women jauntily pose for pictures in their thick Batman-style winter cloaks.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Vakoch said that among the early proponents of displaying pictures to communicate with extraterrestrials was the illustrious mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Both player and team left the combine with good impressions of one another, and were happy to reunite Thursday night.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
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Though neither factored in the decision, Prielipp and Rojas made strong first impressions on their teammates and coaches.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abstractions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstractions. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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