absurd, a. and n.
(æbˈsɜːd)
[a. Fr. absurde, ad. L. absurd-us inharmonious, tasteless, foolish, f. ab off, here intensive + surdus deaf, inaudible, insufferable to the ear.]
A. adj.
† 1. Mus. Inharmonious, jarring, out-of-tune. Obs. rare.
| 1617 Janua Ling. 773 A harpe maketh not an absurd sound. |
2. Out of harmony with reason or propriety; incongruous, unreasonable, illogical. In modern use, esp. plainly opposed to reason, and hence, ridiculous, silly. a. Of things.
| 1557 Recorde Whetst. Bb iij b, 8-12 is an Absurde nomber. For it betokeneth lesse then nought by 4. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 103 Fye, 'tis a fault to Heauen, A fault against the Dead, a fault to Nature, To reason most absurd. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. i. 5 That they had no other skill but onely to embalm, were absurd to imagine. 1781 Cowper Hope 65 'Tis grave philosophy's absurdest dream, That heaven's intentions are not what they seem. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 249 That such reverence may be carried to an absurd extreme is true. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 36 It would be quite absurd if a dozen travellers in one party were to light a dozen separate fires, and cook a dozen separate meals. |
b. Of persons.
| 1597 Bacon Ess., Negociating (1862) 196 Use also, such Persons, as affect the Businesse, wherin they are Employed..Froward and Absurd Men for Businesse that doth not well beare out it Selfe. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Rebel. I. iii. 178 The next day after that Argument, Sir Arthur Haslerig, an absurd, bold man..preferr'd a Bill in the House of Commons. 1765 Harris Three Treat. iii. 1. 161 Is not Education capable of..making us greatly Wise or greatly Absurd. 1874 Black Pr. Thule 16 ‘My dear fellow,’ said Ingram at last, ‘don't be absurd.’ |
† B. n. An unreasonable thing, act, or statement. Obs. exc. as a rendering of Fr. l'absurde (Camus).
| 1610 Histrio-mastix ii. 264 Our heavenly poesie, That sacred off-spring from the braine of Jove, Thus to be mangled with prophane absurds. 1635 Heywood Hierarch. v. 292 Of which Absurds, I'le make no more narration. 1954 H. Read Anarchy & Order 13 He [Albert Camus] suggested a philosophy of the absurd, and his subsequent work..has been an affirmation of ‘absurdism’ in politics and ethics, as well as in metaphysics. 1962 Listener 13 Dec. 1027/1 The theatre of the absurd, whose master remains Camus. |