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say it: uhb-SURD
absurd is an adjective and noun meaning "inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense". It carries 3 recorded senses.
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense
“the absurd predicament of seeming to argue that virtue is highly desirable but intensely unpleasant”
so unreasonable as to invite derision
“the absurd excuse that the dog ate his homework”
“that's a cockeyed idea”
“ask a nonsensical question and get a nonsensical answer”
“a contribution so small as to be laughable”
“it is ludicrous to call a cottage a mansion”
“a preposterous attempt to turn back the pages of history”
“her conceited assumption of universal interest in her rather dull children was ridiculous”
a situation in which life seems irrational and meaningless
“The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for absurd come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.