preposterous

[ pri-pos-ter-uhs, -truhs ]

adjective

1. completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; utterly foolish; absurd; senseless:

   a preposterous tale.

   Synonyms: ridiculous, excessive, unreasonable

preposterous

/ prɪˈpɒstərəs /

adjective

1. contrary to nature, reason, or sense; absurd; ridiculous

Derived Forms

• preˈposterously, adverb
• preˈposterousness, noun

Other Words From

• pre·poster·ous·ly adverb
• pre·poster·ous·ness noun
• unpre·poster·ous adjective
• unpre·poster·ous·ly adverb
• unpre·poster·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin praeposterus “inverted, reversed, perverted, perverse,” literally, “with the rear part first”; pre-, posterior, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of preposterous¹

C16: from Latin praeposterus reversed, from prae in front, before + posterus following

Synonym Study

See absurd.

Example Sentences

Set aside the preposterous contentions that “government agencies are no different” from corporations, or that mass-eliminating people by SSN would not cripple necessary everyday government functions like air traffic control and emergency relief and weather monitoring, even after screening them for constitutional knowledge or something.

From Slate

Morris, who is Black, called claims of racism preposterous and said it was a campaign of guilt by association.

From Salon

She said Hall’s account was “preposterous and untrue” but she accepted he continued to believe it was true.

From BBC

Having spent some time living in authoritarian societies, what I can tell you is that it is quite easy to go about your business and look the other way when the unmarked vans come to disappear the local dissidents and then return a few days later to drop their bodies back off with their families, along with some preposterous excuse for what happened.

From Slate

Now, Trump and his allies are rebooting his preposterous conspiracies, this time by spreading racist lies about who is casting votes in the first place—scaremongering about immigrants voting, attacking voter registrations, and bringing scores of lawsuits.

From Slate

Related Words

• absurd
• crazy
• excessive
• fantastic
• foolish
• impossible
• incredible
• insane
• irrational
• laughable
• ludicrous
• nonsensical
• outrageous
• senseless
• shocking
• silly
• stupid
• unbelievable
• unreasonable
• unthinkable