preposterous
UK/pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs//pɹəˈpɑstəɹəs/
preposterous adjective: absurd, or contrary to common sense.
Adjective
preposterous (comparative more preposterous, superlative most preposterous)
- Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
- [...] 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...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...
- 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...1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Audience”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 257
- Synonyms:
- absurd, foolish, irrational, nonsensical
preposterous meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
preposterous in Tamil
- இயற்கைக்கு மாறான, பகுத்தறிவுக்கொவ்வாத, முற்றும் முரணான
preposterous in Urdu
- بالکل بےہودہ, واہیات
preposterous in Bengali
- অত্যন্ত হাস্যকর, অযৌক্তিক, অস্বাভাবিক
preposterous in Malayalam
- ന്യായവിരോധമായ, ബുദ്ധികെട്ട, തലകീഴായ, തികച്ചും അബദ്ധമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- preposterous in Kannada
- ಅಸ್ವಾಭಾವಿಕ, ವಿವೇಚನಾರಹಿತ, ಅರ್ಥಶೂನ್ಯವಾದ, ಅಸಂಬದ್ಧವಾದ
- preposterous in Vietnamese
- vô lý
Examples of preposterous in a sentence
- 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, […]...
- 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 Times:
Synonyms of preposterous
Forms of preposterous
| comparative | more preposterous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most preposterous |
| alternative form (archaic) | præposterous |
Origin of preposterous
From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).
Words formed from preposterous
Questions about preposterous
- What does preposterous mean?
- Preposterous means absurd, or contrary to common sense.
- What is preposterous in Tamil?
- Preposterous in Tamil is இயற்கைக்கு மாறான, பகுத்தறிவுக்கொவ்வாத, முற்றும் முரணான. See Preposterous meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use preposterous in a sentence?
- Well, I was quite right in asking what preposterous request had you come here about!
- What part of speech is preposterous?
- Preposterous is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce preposterous?
- Preposterous is pronounced /pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs/ (UK).
Words near preposterous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: preposterous (page history and authors); preposterous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preposterous (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preposterous (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preposterous (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preposterous (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-preposterous.ogg.
Cite this entry: “preposterous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/preposterous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.