abstract noun


nounGrammar.
  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.

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Origin of abstract noun

1
First recorded in 1350–1400

Words Nearby abstract noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use abstract noun in a sentence

  • Glenn Beck did it before, although the abstract noun he chose to foist on the nation was "honor."

    Sanity Is Overrated | Tunku Varadarajan | October 29, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • A participle agreeing with a noun is preferred in Latin to an abstract noun with a dependent genitive.

    Selections from Viri Romae | Charles Franois L'Homond
  • An abstract noun is the name denoting a quality of an object; as, power, purity, strength.

    Business English | Rose Buhlig
  • When I've finished, there isn't an hysterical superlative adjective or a complimentary abstract noun unused in my vocabulary.

    The Native Son | Inez Haynes Irwin
  • The, when placed before the pluralized abstract noun, marks it as half abstract or a common noun.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
  • An abstract noun is the name of a quality, a condition or an action.

    Plain English | Marian Wharton

British Dictionary definitions for abstract noun

abstract noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012