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Glite Dictionary
preposterousness

preposterousness

1 7.9
A state of being very silly and clearly against common sense
  • noun
  • /prɪˈpɑːstərəsnəs/
translation icon : absurdidad
  • She couldn't help but point out the preposterousness of the excuse given for his late arrival.

And I think we're seeing legally in the United States the abysmal preposterousness of like originalism as a legal doctrine.

Examples

  • The committee debated the preposterousness of the proposal, which included flying cars as public transportation.

  • Kevin, I agree with you about the preposterousness (not a word, but it fits) of the art world for the past several decades.

    Blog text (11)

  • And I think we're seeing legally in the United States the abysmal preposterousness of like originalism as a legal doctrine.

    Rich Roll

  • Postmodernism is imploding, collapsing inward with the weight of its own preposterousness.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The John Milius/Oliver Stone original was just oozing with macho posturing and ersatz Nietzschean preposterousness.

    Blog text (30)

  • His lack of understanding the preposterousness of the plan left everyone speechless.

Synonyms

absurdity
vspreposterousness
54 6.1

Something very silly that goes against common sense

is the more extreme sense stressing total lack of reason
silliness
vspreposterousness
29 2.6

Playful or foolish behavior that is not serious and often funny

is stronger meaning complete lack of reason rather than mild foolishness
lunacy
vspreposterousness
22 7.5

Extremely foolish behavior that shows very poor judgment

is about complete lack of reason rather than mere folly
hogwash
vspreposterousness
  • Informal
16 7.4

Untrue or silly talk that people should not believe

is a general quality of being without reason rather than false claims
irrationality
vspreposterousness
12 6.2

A lack of clear, logical thinking

is more extreme showing clear and obvious lack of sense
ridiculousness
vspreposterousness
10 4.9

Being very silly or clearly unreasonable

is stronger and focuses on complete obvious lack of reason
to utter nonsense
vspreposterousness
6 5.7

To say things that are not true or that make no sense

is a state or quality rather than the act of saying false things
ludicrousness
vspreposterousness
1 7.5

A situation so silly or unreasonable that people laugh and do not believe it

is the idea of total lack of reason rather than just being funny
unreasonableness
vspreposterousness
1 6.0

An action or decision that is unfair and does not make sense

is about outright complete unreason rather than mere unfairness
absurdness
vspreposterousness
7.3

A situation that is very strange and does not make sense

is the same idea but emphasizes complete and obvious lack of sense
farcicality
vspreposterousness
9.9

Being very silly and absurd so it seems like a bad joke

is a plain quality of complete unreason rather than staged comedy

Antonyms

rationality
34 5.4

Clear thinking and decisions based on facts and logic

reasonableness
8 3.7

A quality of being fair, sensible, and showing good judgment

How Absurd

absurdity
54 6.1
preposterousness
1 7.9
strangeness
12 5.5

Surface Forms

preposterousness singular
preposterousnesses plural

Morphology

preposterousness = preposterous (transparent) = preposterous + ness

The noun is a standard nominalization formed from the adjective 'preposterous' with '-ness', so the meaning is directly derived from the adjective.

Etymology

The word preposterousness comes from Latin parts pre- 'before' and post 'after', as in postpone, and it originally described putting things in the wrong order. That's why preposterousness means the quality of being completely ridiculous or against common sense.