absurdab‧surd /əbˈsɜːd, -ˈzɜːd $ -ɜːrd/ ●●○ adjective 
It seems quite absurd to expect anyone to drive for 3 hours just for a 20-minute meeting. It seems an absurd idea.► see thesaurus at stupid2the absurd something that is completely stupid and unreasonable: Some of the stories he tells verge on the absurd.—absurdity noun [countable, uncountable]: Duncan laughed at the absurdity of the situation.
WORD ORIGINabsurd
Origin:
1500-1600 French absurde, from Latin absurdus, from ab- ‘away’ + surdus ‘deaf, stupid’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a TV program with an absurd plot
- The idea seemed absurd.
- How simple that concept seems now, but how inhuman, how futuristic, how absurd it sounded to me then.
- I had seen shyness stiffen her into a quite absurd primness.
- It would be absurd if it were not so unlikely.
- Some gigs stand out as being particularly absurd.
- That kind of thinking is absurd.
- The fact that this singular, somewhat oppressive female was seeking out a religious man seemed absurd.
- This may seem a little absurd since the buyer in possession may well not be a mercantile agent.
THESAURUSvery stupid
not at all sensible or reasonable – used when you are very surprised by someone’s behaviour or what they have said: · Ian’s got some crazy plan to drive across Africa.· She looked at me as if I was crazy!· You’re crazy to think of hitch-hiking on your own.
extremely stupid: · You look ridiculous in that hat.· Some people spend a ridiculous amount of money on cars.· It’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest that he would do something like that.
extremely stupid – used especially when an idea or situation seems strange or illogical: · How can a return ticket cost less than a single? It’s totally absurd!· It was a ludicrous idea.· Some of the objections to the theory are simply absurd.
so stupid that you cannot believe someone is telling the truth or being serious: · The accusations were almost laughable.· a laughable suggestion· It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
Longman Language Activatorvery stupid not at all sensible or reasonable, especially in an annoying or shocking way : · I said I enjoyed doing exams, and she looked at me as if I was crazy!· Ian's got some crazy plan to drive all the way across Africa.· The farmers can make more money by not planting crops - it's crazy, isn't it?· You're crazy to think of hitch-hiking on your own.
something that is ridiculous or absurd is so stupid that you can hardly believe that it has been done, said etc: · I've never heard anything so ridiculous! Of course I haven't been trying to avoid you!· an absurd suggestion· This is ridiculous. You've only known him three days, and you're going on holiday with him!· It's absurd to think Porter flew into a murderous rage just because he had an argument with his girlfriend.patently ridiculous/absurd (=used to emphasize that something is very ridiculous indeed): · This patently absurd argument is often used by anti-gay groups.
completely unreasonable or unsuitable: · The telephone lines are only open during office hours, which is ludicrous in this day and age.· She wears short skirts and dyes her hair pink, which looks ludicrous on a woman her age.
so stupid and unbelievable that it makes you want to laugh: · The government's attempt to privatize the prison service has been simply laughable.· It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.
very stupid and likely to involve unnecessary risks and dangers: · Wyatt was nearly killed as a result of that idiotic stunt.· If that wasn't idiotic enough, the company went on to sack fifty percent of its skilled workers, replacing them with untrained apprentices.
: hare-brained scheme/plan etc a plan that is very stupid and cannot possibly be successful: · Alice had to figure out how to pay the rent after Ralph spent the money on another of his hare-brained schemes.
: inane remark/comment/conversation etc stupid and completely meaningless: · Penny began an inane conversation about the book she was reading to fill the silence.· Bad acting, weak script and inane dialogue -- this movie is truly awful.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It seems quite absurd to expect anyone to drive for 3 hours just for a 20-minute meeting. Duncan laughed at the absurdity of the situation.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1completely stupid or unreasonable SYN ridiculousquite/slightly/completely etc absurd It seems quite absurd to expect anyone to drive for 3 hours just for a 20-minute meeting. Duncan laughed at the absurdity of the situation.· They had the ridiculous notion that they could make a living from singing.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Winter denies the allegation and those who know him dismiss the charge as absurd.· They condemn as absurd, lessons that teach children about homosexuality years before they can understand the meaning of the word.· This last ambition may not be as absurd as it looks.
· This fact merely needs stating to show how absurd the law is.· It can even be converted into sudden laughter, when one realizes how absurd the pretence is.· How simple that concept seems now, but how inhuman, how futuristic, how absurd it sounded to me then.· I told him how upsetting, and authoritarian, and ultimately how absurd, the whole experience had been.
· We allowed them to see us at our most absurd.· To do that would be to become that most absurd and outmoded of beings, a socialist.· The auto accident is the most absurd of all adversary proceedings.· It was truly the most absurd of happenings.· Q: Of the many things there are to make fun of in Martha, what struck you as the most absurd?· At its most absurd it might mean that companies could be sued for sending letters to the wrong address.· The greatest scientists have mixed insight amounting to genius with the most absurd follies at other times.
· I had seen shyness stiffen her into a quite absurd primness.· The Victoria County History mentions a quite absurd figure of £250,000.· In any case the idea of such a thing between me and the lieutenant is quite absurd.· It sounds quite absurd but the other day I walked up the footpath from the road just to see if it was.· Indeed it would be quite absurd if companies can not correct any mistake if all interested parties agree.· His views on motion seem to us today quite absurd.
· And once you've had one treble gin it seems slightly absurd not to have another.· He'd had more time to think, to get used to this slightly absurd rapture.· A little idiosyncratic, I think, my appearance - but without going to the slightly absurd lengths of ginger hair and freckles.
· He is so absurd that he adds a note of humor to an otherwise dry, tedious, prosaic play.
NOUN· Was he laughing at the absurd idea of being an old fogey?· Of course it was an absurd idea, and very sensibly Rex said nothing.· An absurd idea took hold of her.· The absurd idea, he wrote, that a work of art grows from nothing into something, from acorn into oak.
It seems quite absurd to expect anyone to drive for 3 hours just for a 20-minute meeting. It seems an absurd idea.► see thesaurus at stupid2the absurd something that is completely stupid and unreasonable: Some of the stories he tells verge on the absurd.—absurdity noun [countable, uncountable]: Duncan laughed at the absurdity of the situation.- photo
- photo-
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