Word.ws English Dictionary

pataphysics

pataphysics noun: an absurdist philosophy or pseudoscience studying things "beyond" metaphysics.

Noun

pataphysics (uncountable)

  1. An absurdist philosophy or pseudoscience studying things "beyond" metaphysics.

Forms of pataphysics

alternative form'pataphysics

Origin of pataphysics

Borrowed from French pataphysique, where it was coined by author Alfred Jarry from a pun deriving from the Ancient Greek title of a work by Aristotle; see pataphysique for more.

Questions about pataphysics

What does pataphysics mean?
Pataphysics means an absurdist philosophy or pseudoscience studying things "beyond" metaphysics.
What part of speech is pataphysics?
Pataphysics is a noun.

Words near pataphysics in the dictionary

  1. pataphysically
  2. pataphysician
  3. pataphysicians
  4. pataphysicist
  5. pataphysicists
  6. pataphysics
  7. Patapoutian
  8. Patapoutians
  9. Patapsco
  10. Patar
  11. Pataria

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pataphysics (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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