different between absurd vs eccentric
absurd
English
Etymology
First attested in 1557. From Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”), from ab (“away from, out”) + surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”). Compare surd.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?b?z??d/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?b?s??d/
- (US) IPA(key): /æb?s?d/, /æb?z?d/, /?b?s?d/, /?b?z?d/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /æb?z?d/
- Rhymes: -??(r)d
Adjective
absurd (comparative absurder or more absurd, superlative absurdest or most absurd)
- Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; silly. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, V-iv
- This proffer is absurd and reasonless.
- ca. 1710, Alexander Pope
- This phrase absurd to call a villain great
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, V-iv
- (obsolete) Inharmonious; dissonant. [Attested only in the early 17th century.]
- Having no rational or orderly relationship to people's lives; meaningless; lacking order or value.
- Dealing with absurdism.
Usage notes
- In the comparative and superlative degrees, the forms more absurd and most absurd are usually preferred over absurder, absurdest.
- Among the synonyms:
- Irrational is the weakest, denoting that which is plainly inconsistent with the dictates of sound reason; as, an irrational course of life.
- Foolish rises higher, and implies either a perversion of that faculty, or an absolute weakness or fatuity of mind; as, foolish enterprises.
- Absurd rises still higher, denoting that which is plainly opposed to received notions of propriety and truth; as, an absurd man, project, opinion, story, argument, etc.
- Preposterous rises still higher, and supposes an absolute inversion in the order of things; or, in plain terms, a "putting of the cart before the horse;" as, a preposterous suggestion, preposterous conduct, a preposterous regulation or law.
Synonyms
- foolish, irrational, ridiculous, preposterous, inconsistent, incongruous, ludicrous
- See also Thesaurus:absurd
Derived terms
- absurdly, absurdity
- Absurdistan
Translations
Noun
absurd (plural absurds)
- (obsolete) An absurdity. [Attested from the early 17th century until the mid 17th century.]
- (philosophy, often preceded by the) The opposition between the human search for meaning in life and the inability to find any; the state or condition in which man exists in an irrational universe and his life has no meaning outside of his existence. [First attested in English in the early 20th century and first used in the mid-19th century in Danish by Kierkegaard.]
Derived terms
- Theatre of the Absurd
Translations
References
Further reading
- absurd in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- absurd in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- Brauds, Burdas
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
- (Balearic) IPA(key): /?p?su?t/
- (Central) IPA(key): /?p?surt/
- (Valencian) IPA(key): /ap?su?t/
Adjective
absurd (feminine absurda, masculine plural absurds, feminine plural absurdes)
- absurd
Derived terms
- absurdament
Related terms
- absurditat
- sord
Noun
absurd m (plural absurds)
- absurdity
Further reading
- “absurd” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “absurd” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
- “absurd” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “absurd” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Danish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin absurdus (“discordant, unreasonable”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /absurd/, [?b?su???d?]
Adjective
absurd (neuter absurd, plural and definite singular attributive absurde)
- absurd
Adverb
absurd
- absurdly
Derived terms
- absurditet
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?p?s?rt/
- Hyphenation: ab?surd
- Rhymes: -?rt
Adjective
absurd (comparative absurder, superlative absurdst)
- absurd
Inflection
Related terms
- absurdisme
- absurditeit
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
Adjective
absurd (comparative absurder, superlative am absurdesten)
- absurd
Declension
Related terms
- Absurdismus
- Absurdität
Further reading
- “absurd” in Duden online
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From German absurd, from Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?p?zu?t/, [?p?zu?t]
Adjective
absurd (masculine absurden, neuter absurd, comparative méi absurd, superlative am absurdsten)
- absurd
Declension
Related terms
- Absurditéit
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”), from ab (“away from, out”) + surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ab?s??/, /ab?s??d/, /ap?s??/, /ap?s??d/
- Rhymes: -??, -??d
- Hyphenation: ab?surd
Adjective
absurd (neuter singular absurd, definite singular and plural absurde, comparative mer absurd, superlative mest absurd)
- absurd (contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth)
- Synonyms: fornuftsstridig, meningsløs, irrasjonell
- (theater, literary sciences) absurdist (of or relating to absurdism)
- Synonym: absurdistisk
Derived terms
References
- “absurd” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “absurd” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
- “absurd” in Store norske leksikon
Anagrams
- bardus
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin absurdus.
Adjective
absurd (neuter singular absurd, definite singular and plural absurde)
- absurd
Related terms
- absurditet
References
- “absurd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish
Etymology
From Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?ap.surt/
Noun
absurd m inan (diminutive absurdzik)
- nonsense
- Synonym: nonsens
- Jego propozycje to jeden wielki absurd.
- His suggestions are one big load of nonsense.
- (logic) absurdity
Declension
Derived terms
- (verb) absurdalizowa?
- (nouns) absurdalno??, absurdalista, absurdalizacja
- (adjective) absurdalny
- (adverb) absurdalnie
Further reading
- absurd in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
- absurd in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French absurde, Latin absurdus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ab?surd/
Adjective
absurd m or n (feminine singular absurd?, masculine plural absurzi, feminine and neuter plural absurde)
- absurd
Declension
Related terms
- absurditate
Swedish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin absurdus.
Adjective
absurd
- absurd
Declension
Related terms
- absurdism
- absurditet
Tatar
Adjective
absurd
- Latin spelling of ?????? (absurd)
absurd From the web:
- what absurd means
- what's absurd drama
- what's absurd theatre
- what's absurdist humour
- what absurd means in spanish
- what absurdist theatre
- what absurd means in arabic
- absurdist meaning
eccentric
English
Alternative forms
- eccentrick (obsolete)
- excentric
- excentrick (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin excentricus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ?? (ek, “out”) + ??????? (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- +? -centric.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?k?s?nt??k/
- (US) IPA(key): /?k?s?nt??k/
Adjective
eccentric (comparative more eccentric, superlative most eccentric)
- Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
- 2011, Michael Laver, Ernest Sergenti. Party Competition: An Agent-Based Model, page 125,
- Strikingly, we see that party births tend systematically to be at policy positions that are significantly more eccentric than those of surviving parties, whatever decision rule these parties use.
- 2011, Michael Laver, Ernest Sergenti. Party Competition: An Agent-Based Model, page 125,
- Not perfectly circular; elliptical.
- As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater.
- Having a different center; not concentric.
- (of a person) Deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
- 1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127,
- He was a man of a most eccentric turn of mind, and great singularity of conduct.
- 1807, G. H. Wilson (editor), The Eccentric Mirror, Volume 3, page 17,
- Such is not the case with Mr. Martin Van Butchell, one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the British metropolis, and a gentleman of indisputable science and abilities, but whose strange humors and extraordinary habits, have rather tended to obscure than to display the talents he possessed.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I:
- There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric.
- 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, 2012, unnumbered page,
- Khedron was the only other person in the city who could be called eccentric—and even his eccentricity had been planned by the designers of Diaspar.
- 1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127,
- (physiology, of a motion) Against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (e.g., such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
- Having different goals or motives.
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
- […] for whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands he crooketh them to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master or state: […]
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
Usage notes
- (physiology, of motion): Motions that are eccentric or the opposite (concentric) are classified as isotonic (“having equal tension”), the antonym of which is isometric (“retaining equal length”). See also Isometric exercise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia .
Synonyms
- (not at or in the centre): eccentrical, excentrical
- (not perfectly circular): eccentrical, excentrical
- (having a different centre): eccentrical, excentrical
- (deviating from the norm): eccentrical, excentrical, odd, abnormal; see also Thesaurus:eccentric
- (against the contraction of a muscle):
- (having different goals or motives): eccentrical, excentrical
Antonyms
- (against the contraction of a muscle): concentric
Derived terms
- eccentrically
- eccentric anomaly
- eccentric contraction
- eccentric flint
- eccentric hypertrophy
Related terms
- central
- centric
- eccentricity
Translations
Noun
eccentric (plural eccentrics)
- One who does not behave like others.
- 1989, Jeffrey Robinson, Rainier and Grace, page 26:
- A tiny, feisty woman who always spoke her mind, Charlotte was an eccentric in the wonderful way that some women from the last century were natural eccentrics.
- 1998, Michael Gross, Life On The Edge, 2001, page ix,
- Eccentrics live longer, happier, and healthier lives than conformist normal citizens, according to the neuropsychologist David Weeks.
- 1989, Jeffrey Robinson, Rainier and Grace, page 26:
- (slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.
- (geometry) A circle not having the same centre as another.
- (engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.
Synonyms
- (person who does not behave like others): misfit, nonconformist; see also Thesaurus:maverick
- (person of bizarre habits or beliefs): crank, odd duck, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person
Translations
See also
- acentric
eccentric From the web:
- what eccentric means
- what eccentricity
- what eccentric and concentric movements are in a squat
- what eccentric contraction
- what eccentric exercises
- what do eccentric mean
- what is meant by eccentric
- what does eccentric mean
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