absurdity
noun
Simple meaning
Being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbsurduhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əbˈsɝdəti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment.
countable
That which is absurd; an absurd action; a logical contradiction.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment.
'Absurdity' is the quality of being utterly unreasonable or illogical. It's the noun form of 'absurd.' You might talk about 'the absurdity of the situation' when something is so senseless that it's almost comical, or deeply frustrating. It's more intense than 'foolishness.'
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Literary Criticism
“The play explored the fundamental absurdity of human existence.”
News Commentary
“Many expressed frustration at the sheer absurdity of the proposed law.”
Personal Reflection
“Sometimes, the bureaucracy reaches a level of complete absurdity.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use absurdity
- “The crowd laughed at the absurdity of the clown's behavior.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “absurdity” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.