1. Concealed or hidden out of the way. [Obs.]
The eternal eye whose sight discerns
Abstrusest thoughts.
Milton.
2. Remote from apprehension; difficult to be comprehended or understood; recondite; as, abstruse learning.
Profound and abstruse topics.
Milman.
Abstrusely
(Ab*struse"ly), adv. In an abstruse manner.
Abstruseness
(Ab*struse"ness), n. The quality of being abstruse; difficulty of apprehension. Boyle.
Abstrusion
(Ab*stru"sion) n. [L. abstrusio. See Abstruse.] The act of thrusting away. [R.] Ogilvie.
Abstrusity
(Ab*stru"si*ty) n. Abstruseness; that which is abstruse. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
Absume
(Ab*sume") v. t. [L. absumere, absumptum; ab + sumere to take.] To consume gradually; to
waste away. [Obs.] Boyle.
Absumption
(Ab*sump"tion) n. [L. absumptio. See Absume.] Act of wasting away; a consuming; extinction.
[Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Absurd
(Ab*surd") a. [L. absurdus harsh-sounding; ab + (prob) a derivative fr. a root svar to sound; not
connected with surd: cf. F. absurde. See Syringe.] Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and
flatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; as,
an absurd person, an absurd opinion; an absurd dream.
This proffer is absurd and reasonless.
Shak.
'This phrase absurd to call a villain great.
Pope. p. 9
Syn. — Foolish; irrational; ridiculous; preposterous; inconsistent; incongruous. — Absurd, Irrational, Foolish,
Preposterous. Of these terms, 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.
Absurd
(Ab*surd") n. An absurdity. [Obs.] Pope.
Absurdity
(Ab*surd"i*ty) n.; pl. Absurdities [L. absurditas: cf. F. absurdite.]
1. The quality of being absurd or inconsistent with obvious truth, reason, or sound judgment. "The absurdity
of the actual idea of an infinite number." Locke.
2. That which is absurd; an absurd action; a logical contradiction.
His travels were full of absurdities.
Johnson.
Absurdly
(Ab*surd"ly), adv. In an absurd manner.
Absurdness
(Ab*surd"ness), n. Absurdity. [R.]
Abuna
(||A*bu"na) n. [Eth. and Ar., our father.] The Patriarch, or head of the Abyssinian Church.
