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Absurdity; nonsense; foolishness.

The state or quality of being unaccustomed; absence of use or habit. Absurdities are great or small in proportion to custom or insuetude. Landor.

Not according to reason; absurd; foolish. It seemed utterly irrational any longer to maintain it. I. Taylor.

Gulliver's Travels as the home of chimerical philosophers. Hence, fanciful; preposterous; absurd in science or philosophy. "Laputan ideas." G. Eliot.

Inclined to wild sports; delighting in rash, absurd, or dangerous amusements. "The merry madcap

A supposed discovery which turns out to be a hoax; something grosaly absurd.

sense; words, or language, which have no meaning, or which convey no intelligible ideas; absurdity.

That which is null. Was it not absurd to say that the convention was supreme in the state, and yet a nullity Macaulay.

istinct; obvious; readily perceived and detected; gross; as, palpable imposture; palpable absurdity; palpable errors. "Three persons palpable." P. Plowman. [Lies] gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Shak. -- Pal"pa*ble*ness, n. -- Pal"pa*bly, adv.

seemingly contradictory, or opposed to common sense; that which in appearance or terms is absurd, but yet may be true in fact. A gloss there is to color that paradox, and make it appear in show not to be altogether unreasonable. Hooker. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. Shak. Hydrostatic par…

to nature or reason; not adapted to the end; utterly and glaringly foolish; unreasonably absurd; perverted. "Most preposterous conclusions." Shak. Preposterous ass, that never read so far! Shak.

Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded. "Feats of quixotic gallantry." Prescott.

That form of delusion which leads to extravagant and absurd undertakings or sacrifices in obedience to a morbidly romantic ideal of duty or honor, as illustrated by the exploits of Don Quixote in knight-errantry.

An odd or absurd fellow. Smart. Thackeray.

ly and figuratively, (in the sense) to espouse a cause, to join a party, etc. It would be absurd in me to range myself on the side of the Duke of Bedford and the corresponding society. Burke.

Agreeable to reason; not absurd, preposterous, extravagant, foolish, fanciful, or the like; wise; judicious; as, rational conduct; a rational man.

Void of reason; not warranted or supported by reason; unreasonable. This proffer is absurd and reasonless. Shak.

Fitted to excite ridicule; absurd and laughable; unworthy of serious consideration; as, a ridiculous dress or behavior. Agricola, discerning that those little targets and unwieldy glaives ill pointed would soon become ridiculous against the thrust and close, commanded three Batavian cohorts . . . to draw up and come to…

Exciting laughter; worthy to be laughed at; amusing. "Risible absurdities." Johnson. I hope you find nothing risible in my complaisance. Sir W. Scott.

a romantic undertaking. Can anything in nature be imagined more profane and impious, more absurd, and undeed romantic, than such a persuasion South. Zeal for the good of one's country a party of men have represented as chimerical and romantic. Addison.