Meanings
comparative more preposterous · superlative most preposterous · alternative archaic præposterous
- Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
Leading the attack on the president's very citizenship is the professional vulgarian Donald Trump, who gets away with the kind of preposterous, race-based comments granted few black public figures.
2014 December 4, Timothy Egan, “A deficit of dignity”, in The New York Times5 more examples
[...] I did incounter that obſeene and moſt prepoſterous euent that draweth frõ my ſnowhite pen the ebon coloured Incke, which here thou vieweſt, beholdeſt, ſuruayeſt, or ſeeſt. [...] There did I ſee that low ſpirited Swaine, [...] hight Coſtard, (Clow[ne]. O mee) ſorted and conſorted contrary to thy eſtabliſhed proclaymed Edict and continent Cannon; Which with, o with, but with this I paſſion to ſay wherewith: / Clo[wne]. With a Wench.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]So I am to send Mrs. Churchill down to the very spot where a treasonable correspondence is most easily managed; and by the ease with which she gets out of a first scrape, give her all possible encouragement to get into another. Well, I was quite right in asking what preposterous request had you come here about!
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Audience”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 257In the case of the misseltoe, which draws its nourishment from certain trees, which has seeds that must be transported by certain birds, and which has flowers with separate sexes absolutely requiring the agency of certain insects to bring pollen from one flower to the other, it is equally preposterous to account for the structure of this parasite, with its relations to several distinct organic beings, by the effects of external conditions, or of habit, or of the volition of the plant itself.
1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Introduction”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 3The preposterous altruism too! If a man takes your coat, give him your cloak. Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 266Democrats, too, must be criticised. While they have not made preposterous statements or been threatening or demagogic, they, all too often, have come up short, failing to propose new ideas that can help unwind conflicts raging across the Middle East.
2016 January 30, “America deserves more from presidential hopefuls”, in The National, retrieved 31 Jan 2016Synonyms: absurd, foolish, irrational, nonsensical
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAbsurd, or contrary to common sense.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveso unreasonable as to invite derision
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraeposterus“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”
- Englishpreposterous
From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian абсурден, нелеп
- абсурден (absurden)absurd, or contrary to common sense
- нелеп (nelep)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Chinese Mandarin 荒謬的 /荒谬的
- 荒謬的 /荒谬的 (huāngmiùde)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Czech absurdní, nesmyslný
- absurdníabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- nesmyslnýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- směšnýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Danish meningsløs, absurd
- meningsløsabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- absurdabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Dutch grotesk, van de pot gerukt
- groteskabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- van de pot geruktabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- potsierlijkabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Finnish järjetön, mieletön
- järjetönabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- mieletönabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- naurettavaabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- posketonabsurd, or contrary to common sense
French aberrant, absurde
- aberrantabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- absurdeabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- insenséabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- ridiculeabsurd, or contrary to common sense
German grotesk, unmöglich
- groteskabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- unmöglichabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- unerträglichabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- unsagbarabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- unsäglichabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Hungarian esztelen, oktalan
- esztelenabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- oktalanabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- nevetségesabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- abszurdabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- képtelenabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Icelandic fáránlegur
- fáránlegurabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Italian irragionevole, insensato
- irragionevoleabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- insensatoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- assurdoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Korean 어처구니없다
- 어처구니없다 (eocheogunieopda)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Māori haraki
- harakiabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Norwegian Bokmål meningsløs, bakvendt
- meningsløsabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- bakvendtabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Polish niedorzeczny
- niedorzecznyabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Portuguese absurdo, insensato
- absurdoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- insensatoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Russian неле́пый, абсу́рдный
- неле́пый (nelépyj)absurd, or contrary to common sense
- абсу́рдный (absúrdnyj)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Slovak nezmyselný, nemysliteľný
- nezmyselnýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- nemysliteľnýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- absurdnýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Spanish insensato, prepóstero
- insensatoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- prepósteroabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- descabelladoabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Swedish grotesk, bakvänd
- groteskabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- bakvändabsurd, or contrary to common sense
- befängdabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Ukrainian безглу́здий, абсу́рдний
- безглу́здий (bezhlúzdyj)absurd, or contrary to common sense
- абсу́рдний (absúrdnyj)absurd, or contrary to common sense
- нісені́тний (nisenítnyj)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Vietnamese vô lý
- vô lýabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Welsh afresymol
- afresymolabsurd, or contrary to common sense
Yiddish אַבסורד
- אַבסורד (absurd)absurd, or contrary to common sense
Cite this entry
preposterous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preposterous
“preposterous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preposterous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preposterous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preposterous.
Source: preposterous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.