preposterous

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“
They also called Mr. Madoff's explanation that he had mailed the jewelry and watches in an effort to reach out to friends and family "preposterous," adding, "That's what telephones, e-mails and personal letters are for."

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd. See Synonyms at foolish.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • It is of course preposterous, and as I have been elected to represent hundreds of my co-workers in my union, and address meetings of thousands of people I think they might be better judges of my mental state. —  Anarkismo.net
  • Things so preposterous, absurd and imbecilic that we never thought they'd be repeated … at least not in our lifetimes. —  LewRockwell.com
  • If that sounds preposterous, that is because it is.
  • Of all the arrant, preposterous, and ludicrous attacks yet launched on Sarah Palin, there is none more absurd than the notion that she should have stood up in a huff and stormed out of church in her hometown of Wasilla because her pastor had invited a Jews for Jesus nutcase to speak there. —  English-writing Israeli-bloggers
  • BJP charges are preposterous, the Congress leader said. —  The Economic Times
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin praeposterus, inverted, unseasonable : prae-, pre- + posterus, coming behind (from post, behind; see apo- in Indo-European roots).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Spanish prepóstero = Portuguese Italian prepostero, from Latin præposterus, with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted, from præ, before, + posterus, coming after: see posterity.
 

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/prəˈpɑstərəs/
by American Heritage
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne

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