absurd

First attested in 1557. From Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”),^[1] from ab (“away from, out”) + surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”).^[2] Compare surd.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əbˈsɜːd/, /əbˈzɜːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /æbˈsɝd/, /æbˈzɝd/, /əbˈsɝd/, /əbˈzɝd/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /æbˈsəɹd/, [abˈsɚ(ɹ)d], /æbˈzəɹd/, /əb-/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d

• Audio (US):

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absurd (comparative absurder or more absurd, superlative absurdest or most absurd)

1. Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; silly. [from mid-16th c.]^[3]

   Synonyms: foolish, irrational, ridiculous, preposterous, ludicrous

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:

     This proffer is absurd and reasonless.

   • 1734, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:

     'Tis phrase absurd to call a villain great

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.

   • 1979, “The Logical Song”, in Roger Hodgson (lyrics), Breakfast in America, performed by Supertramp:

     I know it sounds absurd / But please, tell me who I am

2. (obsolete) Inharmonious; dissonant. [only early 17th c.]^[3]

   Synonyms: inconsistent, incongruous

3. Having no rational or orderly relationship to people's lives; meaningless; lacking order or value.
   • 1968 March 2, Joseph Featherstone, “A New Kind of Schooling”, in The New Republic:

     Adults have condemned them to live in what must seem like an absurd universe.

4. Dealing with absurdism.

• In the comparative and superlative degrees, the forms more absurd and most absurd are usually preferred over absurder, absurdest.
• Webster 1913 has the sole definition "Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; as, an absurd person, an absurd opinion; an absurd dream."

• See also Thesaurus:absurd

absurd (plural absurds)

1. (obsolete) An absurdity. [early 17th–mid 17th c.]^[3]
2. (philosophy, often preceded by the) The opposition between the human search for meaning in life and the inability to find any; the state or condition in which man exists in an irrational universe and his life has no meaning outside of his existence. [from early 20th century in English; from mid-19th century in Danish by Kierkegaard]^[3][4]

• Theatre of the Absurd

• “absurd”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “absurd”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “absurd”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “absurd”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “absurd”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “absurd”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “absurd” (US) / “absurd” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.

• Brauds, Burdas

Borrowed from Latin absurdus.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əpˈsurt]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [apˈsuɾt]
• Rhymes: -uɾt

absurd (feminine absurda, masculine plural absurds, feminine plural absurdes)

1. absurd

• absurdament

• absurditat
• sord

absurd m (plural absurds)

1. absurdity

• “absurd”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “absurd”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “absurd” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “absurd” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Latin absurdus (“discordant, unreasonable”).

• IPA^(key): /absurd/, [ɑbˈsuɐ̯ˀd̥]

absurd (neuter absurd, plural and definite singular attributive absurde)

1. absurd

absurd

1. absurdly

• absurditet

Borrowed from Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus.

• IPA^(key): /ɑpˈsʏrt/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: ab‧surd
• Rhymes: -ʏrt

absurd (comparative absurder, superlative absurdst)

1. absurd

Declension of absurd
uninflected	absurd
inflected	absurde
comparative	absurder
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		absurd	absurder	het absurdst het absurdste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	absurde	absurdere	absurdste
	n. sing.	absurd	absurder	absurdste
	plural	absurde	absurdere	absurdste
definite		absurde	absurdere	absurdste
partitive		absurds	absurders	—

• absurdisme
• absurditeit

• → Indonesian: absurd

Borrowed from Latin absurdus.

• IPA^(key): /apˈzʊʁt/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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absurd (strong nominative masculine singular absurder, comparative absurder, superlative am absurdesten)

1. absurd

• Absurdismus
• Absurdität

• → Bulgarian: абсу́рд (absúrd)

• “absurd” in Duden online
• “absurd” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Dutch absurd, from Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈabsurd/ [ˈap̚.surt̪̚]
• Syllabification: ab‧surd

absurd (comparative lebih absurd, superlative paling absurd)

1. absurd

• “absurd” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from Polish absurd.

• IPA^(key): /ˈap.surt/
• Rhymes: -apsurt
• Syllabification: ab‧surd

absurd m inan

1. absurdity, nonsense

   Synonym: bezsens

• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “absurd”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “absurd”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1]
• “absurd”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

From German absurd, from Latin absurdus.

• IPA^(key): /ɑpˈzuʀt/, [ɑpˈzuχt]

• Audio:

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absurd (masculine absurden, neuter absurd, comparative méi absurd, superlative am absurdsten)

1. absurd

• Absurditéit

Borrowed from English absurd.

• (English-based) IPA^(key): [ɛp̚.sət̚]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -sət, -ət
• (spelling-based) IPA^(key): [ap̚.su(r)t̚]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

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  • Rhymes: -surd, -urd
• Hyphenation: ab‧surd

absurd (Jawi spelling ابسورد)

1. absurd

   Synonym: mustahil

• “absurd” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”), from both ab- (“from, away from, off”), from Latin ab (“from, away from, on, in”), from Proto-Italic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”) + and from surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to resound; ringing, whistling”).

• IPA^(key): /abˈsʉɖ/, /abˈsʉʁd/, /apˈsʉɖ/, /apˈsʉʁd/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -ʉɖ, -ʉʁd, -ʉrd
• Hyphenation: ab‧surd

absurd (neuter singular absurd, definite singular and plural absurde, comparative mer absurd, superlative mest absurd)

1. absurd (contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth)

   Synonyms: fornuftsstridig, meningsløs, irrasjonell

   et absurd spørsmål

   an absurd question

   dette er jo ganske absurd

   this is quite absurd

   • 1882, Henrik Ibsen, En folkefiende, page 164:

     absurde traditioner

     absurd traditions

   • 1907, Alexander L. Kielland, Samlede værker II (Mindeutgave), page 67:

     en saa absurd forbindelse – med en stor rødhaaret bondepige

     such an absurd connection - with a big red-haired peasant girl

   • 2000, Trude Marstein, Plutselig høre noen åpne en dør, page 188:

     situasjonen er absurd, tenker jeg

     the situation is absurd, I think

   • 1997, Espen Schaanning, Vitenskap som skapt viten, page 66:

     radikalt nye innfallsvinkler og synsmåter står alltid i fare for å framtre som absurde og paradoksale

     radically new approaches and views are always in danger of appearing absurd and paradoxical

   • 1999, Elsbeth Wessel, Wien, page 288:

     [keiser Frans Josef] var en ensom mann, resignert, men fylt av en nesten absurd pliktfølelse

     [Emperor Francis Joseph] was a lonely man, resigned, but filled with an almost absurd sense of duty

   • 2006, Lars Roar Langslet, Når fuglen letter, page 11:

     i billedkunsten er det åpenbart absurd å tale om noe fremskritt

     in the visual arts, it is obviously absurd to talk about any progress

2. (theater, literary sciences) absurdist (of or relating to absurdism)

   Synonym: absurdistisk

   • 1982, Torolf Elster, Thomas Pihls annen lov, page 40:

     en absurd komedie eller et absurd melodrama

     an absurd comedy or an absurd melodrama

   • 1991, Åsfrid Svensen, Orden og kaos, page 326:

     i absurd litteratur mangler gjerne motsetningen mellom normalitet og fantastikk

     in absurd literature, the contrast between normality and fantastic is often lacking

   • 1998, Kjetil Rolness, Elvis Presley, page 37:

     framførelsen nærmer seg grensen til absurd komikk

     the performance is approaching the limit of absurd comedy

   • 1976, Leif Longum, Å lese skuespill, page 122:

     ordenes sammenbrudd, som kanskje er det viktigste fellestema ved det absurde teater

     the breakdown of words, which is perhaps the most important common theme of the absurd theater

• “absurd” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “absurd” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “absurd” in Store norske leksikon

• bardus

Borrowed from Latin absurdus.

absurd (neuter singular absurd, definite singular and plural absurde)

1. absurd

• absurditet

• “absurd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• absurdum (obsolete)

Learned borrowing from Latin absurdus.^[1][2][3] First attested in 1564.^[4]

• IPA^(key): /ˈap.surt/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -apsurt
• Syllabification: ab‧surd

absurd m inan (diminutive absurdzik)

1. absurdity, nonsense

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsens

   Jego propozycje to jeden wielki absurd. ― His suggestions are one big load of nonsense.

2. (logic) absurdity

• absurd in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• absurd in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Wiesław Morawski (02.09.2020) “ABSURD”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “absurdum”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “absurd, absurdum”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 4

Borrowed from French absurde, Latin absurdus.

• IPA^(key): /abˈsurd/

• Audio:

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absurd m or n (feminine singular absurdă, masculine plural absurzi, feminine and neuter plural absurde)

1. absurd

• absurditate

Borrowed from Latin absurdus.

absurd (comparative absurdare, superlative absurdast)

1. absurd

• absurdism
• absurditet

absurd

1. Latin spelling of абсурд (absurd)