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abstract

abstract

16 8.0
A general idea not tied to a specific example
  • noun
  • /ˈæbstrækt/
translation icon : abstracción
  • We need to turn our souls, as it were, towards the abstract, the true, and the rational.
  • abstract and the concrete

I was a film and philosophy double major in the abstract at Tish.

Examples

  • If they cannot know truth in the abstract, they do have the power to know truths about themselves.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The narrator ends the story in a dilemma that, in the abstract, is about power, submission, and love.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Not money in the abstract, but money in the wrong places.

  • So all of the abstract problems that people make for themselves.

  • So it's in one sense an abstract idea, a pie in the sky idea.

  • I was speaking in the abstract, not about anything realistic.

  • A minimally decent measure of individual freedom cannot be specified in the abstract.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The concept of freedom is often discussed in the abstract, making it challenging to apply to specific situations.

  • In her thesis, she included an abstract that summarized her main arguments and findings.

  • Understanding the theory is easy, but putting it into practice requires moving beyond the abstract.

Synonyms

concept
vsabstract
4.5

An idea you get after seeing many examples, like freedom

is a general idea that exists independently of examples
abstraction
vsabstract
25 8.0

Making a simple idea from many details to show what is common

is a general idea rather than the process of making it
abstract entity
vsabstract
8.3

An idea that exists only in thought, not as a physical thing

is a general idea not tied to physical reality

Antonyms

3.9

Clearly defined and exact for a particular thing or person

206 3.9

Real and possible to touch rather than abstract

Compounds

3 3.9

Work made with shapes and colors that does not show real things

1 9.1

A style of painting from 1940s New York using large, free, abstract shapes and emotional brush strokes

1 9.5

Hard to understand because it lacks clear facts or examples

Ability to think about ideas that are not present and use reason

An artist who uses shapes and colors instead of real people or places

An idea that exists only in thought, not as a physical thing

9.9

Unclear, complicated ideas that are hard to understand and not practical

abstract poetry
  • Literature
8.6

Poetry that expresses ideas and feelings rather than images

How Abstract

abstraction
25 8.0
theory
3.2
abstract
16 8.0
idea
1.0
instance
2.6

Surface Forms

abstract singular
abstracts plural

Etymology

Abstract comes from Latin parts ab- 'away' and tract 'draw', the same root as tractor. It originally meant 'drawn away' from physical things, so an abstract is an idea that exists only in thought, not as a concrete object.