absurdity - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ab·surd·i·ty

Audio Help [ab-sur-di-tee, -zur-] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ties.

1.	the state or quality of being absurd.

2.	something absurd.

[Origin: 1425–75; late ME absurdite (< MF) < LL absurditās. See absurd, -ity

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
absurdity

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ab·surd Audio Help (əb-sûrd', -zûrd') Pronunciation Key
adj.

Ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable. See Synonyms at foolish.
Of, relating to, or manifesting the view that there is no order or value in human life or in the universe.
Of or relating to absurdism or the absurd.

n. The condition or state in which humans exist in a meaningless, irrational universe wherein people's lives have no purpose or meaning. Used chiefly with the.

[Latin absurdus, out of tune, absurd : ab-, intensive pref.; see ab-¹ + surdus, deaf, muffled.]

ab·surd'i·ty (-sûr'dĭ-tē, -zûr'-), ab·surd'ness n., ab·surd'ly adv.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
absurdity

1528, from M.Fr. absurdité, from L. absurditatem (nom. absurditas) "dissonance, incongruity," from absurdus "out of tune, senseless," from ab- intens. prefix + surdus "dull, deaf, mute" (see susurration). The main modern sense is a fig. one, "out of harmony with reason or propriety."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

absurdity
noun
1.	a message whose content is at variance with reason
2.	a ludicrous folly; "the crowd laughed at the absurdity of the clown's behavior"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Absurdity

Ab*surd"i*ty\ (-[i^]*t[y^]), n.; pl. Absurdities (-t[i^]z). [L. absurditas: cf. F. absurdite.]

1. The quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment. "The absurdity of the actual idea of an infinite number." --Locke.

2. That which is absurd; an absurd action; a logical contradiction.

His travels were full of absurdities. --Johnson.

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