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ality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment. "The absurdity of the actual idea of an infinite number." Locke.

An absurdity. [Obs.] Pope.

Absurdity. [R.]

Unreasonableness; absurdity. [Obs.]

An indirect argument which proves a thing by showing the impossibility or absurdity of the contrary.

Proving indirectly, by showing the absurdity, or impossibility of the contrary. Bp. Berkeley.

mplete; to crown; to bring to the highest point or consummation; as, to cap the climax of absurdity.

earthly good. I. Taylor. To cap the climax, to surpass everything, as in excellence or in absurdity. [Colloq.]

Anything that destroys beauty, grace, or propriety; irregularity; absurdity; gross deviation from other or the established laws of propriety; as, deformity in an edifice; deformity of character. Confounded, that her Maker's eyes Should look so near upon her foul deformities. Milton.

Incomprehensible. The fathomless absurdity. Milton.

The practice of folly; the behavior of a fool; absurdity. Folly in fools bears not so strong a note, As foolery in the wise, when wit doth dote. Shak.

A foolish practice; an absurdity. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. 1 Cor. i. 18.

[R.] Latimer. Logical impossibility, a condition or statement involving contradiction or absurdity; as, that a thing can be and not be at the same time. See Principle of Contradiction, under Contradiction.

Absurdity in argument ore narration; incoherence or irreconcilability in the parts of a statement, argument, or narration; that which is inconsistent. If a man would register all his opinions upon love, politics, religion, and learning, what a bundle of inconsistencies and contradictions would appear at last! Swift.…

f demonstration in which proof is given by showing that any other supposition involves an absurdity (reductio ad absurdum), or an impossibility; thus, one quantity may be proved equal to another by showing that it can be neither greater nor less. -- Indirect discourse. (Gram.) See Direct discourse, under Direct. -- I…

Absurdity; nonsense; foolishness.

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

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.

Any inconsistency, unfitness, absurdity, or impropriety, as in deeds or manners. Cæsar, by dismissing his guards and retaining his power, committed a dangerous solecism in politics. C. Middleton. The idea of having committed the slightest solecism in politeness was agony to him. Sir W. Scott.

Want of reason; unreasonableness; absurdity. Abbot of Unreason. See Abbot of Misrule, under Abbot.