abstract noun

noun

, Grammar.

1. a noun denoting something immaterial and abstract, as rest, dread, or transportation.
2. a noun formed with a suffix that imparts such a meaning, as kindness.

abstract noun

noun

1. a noun that refers to an abstract concept, as for example kindness Compare concrete noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of abstract noun¹

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

In 2018, the word justice became the rare word that arguably fits into both of these categories, a familiar and abstract noun that never drops into lookup obscurity but that was much more frequently looked up this year than in the past.

From Washington Post

Skinny, usually an adjective, is here turned into an abstract noun, paired with another abstract noun, nothing.

From The Guardian

The only email sent by Eakin showed an elementary schoolteacher in the classroom asking her students for two examples of an abstract noun, something they can think of but not touch.

From Washington Times

To sugar the pill the commission has recruited another abstract noun: responsibility.

From Economist

Absence, addressed directly in the opening line, might almost be an allegorical figure rather than an abstract noun.

From The Guardian