preposterous

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
16
Words With Friends
19
Letters
12
Pronunciation
/pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs/
See all 5 pronunciations
/pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs/ · /pɹɪˈpɒstɹəs/ · /pɹə-/ · /pɹəˈpɑstəɹəs/ · /pɹəˈpɑstɹəs/

Definition of preposterous

1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
    “[...] I did incounter that obſeene and moſt prepoſterous euent that draweth frõ my ſnowhite pen the ebon coloured Incke, which here thou vieweſt, beholdeſt, ſuruayeſt, or ſeeſt. [...] There did I ſee that low ſpirited Swaine, [...] hight Coſtard, (Clow[ne]. O mee) ſorted and conſorted contrary to thy eſtabliſhed proclaymed Edict and continent Cannon; Which with, o with, but with this I paſſion to ſay wherewith: / Clo[wne]. With a Wench.”
    “So I am to send Mrs. Churchill down to the very spot where a treasonable correspondence is most easily managed; and by the ease with which she gets out of a first scrape, give her all possible encouragement to get into another. Well, I was quite right in asking what preposterous request had you come here about!”
    “In the case of the misseltoe, which draws its nourishment from certain trees, which has seeds that must be transported by certain birds, and which has flowers with separate sexes absolutely requiring the agency of certain insects to bring pollen from one flower to the other, it is equally preposterous to account for the structure of this parasite, with its relations to several distinct organic beings, by the effects of external conditions, or of habit, or of the volition of the plant itself.”
    “The preposterous altruism too! If a man takes your coat, give him your cloak. Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.”
    “Leading the attack on the president's very citizenship is the professional vulgarian Donald Trump, who gets away with the kind of preposterous, race-based comments granted few black public figures.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).

Words you can make from preposterous

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10-letter words

4 words

9-letter words

20 words

8-letter words

47 words

7-letter words

95 words

6-letter words

33 words

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