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View synonyms for preposterous

preposterous

[ pri-pos-ter-uhs, -truhs ]

adjective

  1. completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; utterly foolish; absurd; senseless:

    a preposterous tale.

    Synonyms: ridiculous, excessive, unreasonable



preposterous

/ prɪˈpɒstərəs /

adjective

  1. contrary to nature, reason, or sense; absurd; ridiculous


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Derived Forms

  • preˈposterousness, noun
  • preˈposterously, adverb

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Other Words From

  • pre·poster·ous·ly adverb
  • pre·poster·ous·ness noun
  • unpre·poster·ous adjective
  • unpre·poster·ous·ly adverb
  • unpre·poster·ous·ness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous1

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin praeposterus “inverted, reversed, perverted, perverse,” literally, “with the rear part first”; pre-, posterior, -ous

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Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous1

C16: from Latin praeposterus reversed, from prae in front, before + posterus following

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Synonym Study

See absurd.

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Example Sentences

DeRosa also said she believed that the idea that she would lead an investigation into workplace culture was preposterous.

It’s heard in the preposterous arguments against vaccinating children and Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Stone’s film is finally sunk by its preposterous visuals, which are legitimately hilarious.

In all those years focusing on survival, the cynical voices were given a preposterous amount of room to criticize.

At the airport, it felt preposterous to obey the social-distancing signs throughout the terminal, only to be squashed like standing sardines once we all got on the plane.

Some cough up preposterous jury awards, while others lay bare the egregious failures of the criminal justice system.

I am genuinely curious if any of the preposterous ramifications of what he is saying even occur to Kennedy.

I found the whole idea so preposterous I even Tweeted about it.

By 1994, the league slugging percentage was a preposterous .424, the highest since 1930.

“Trying to patch the current system is preposterous and destined for failure,” said Dr. Damania.

But he made it most emphatically clear that the thing Alessandro had asked was not only out of the question, but preposterous.

And I, for one, absolutely decline to believe in this preposterous story of his about a bull-dog.

He knew his world too well to make preposterous mental demands upon it.

For this was the preposterous nature of the imposition, and she claimed to have given birth to no less than eighteen of them.

Her hope had been to escape loneliness, but with this preposterous secret, she was lonelier than she had ever been before.

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