absurdismn.
/əbˈsəːdɪz(ə)m/, /əbˈzəːdɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /əbˈsərˌdɪzəm/, /æbˈsərˌdɪzəm/, /əbˈzərˌdɪzəm/, /æbˈzərˌdɪzəm/ 1. An illogical, incongruous, or ridiculous thing; = absurdity n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > absurdity, incongruity > [noun] > instance of
follyc1300
absurditya1525
mumpsimus1531
trim-tram1533
foppery1546
ridicle1570
fangle1583
delirium1599
monstruosity1601
adox1606
absurd1610
extravagancy1625
incongruitya1626
monstrosity1639
extravagant1644
extravagance1650
ridiculea1658
fadoodlea1670
ridiculous1674
irrationalitya1680
ridiculosity1773
whimsy-whamsy1807
absurdism1815
nonsensity1834
nonsensical1842
nonsensicalitya1850
fandango1856
fandangle1880
bollock1919
1815 Monthly Mag. Aug. 3/2 (table) An Absurdity. An Absurdism.
1848 Courier (London) 19 Feb. 120/1 Mesmerism, and every other absurdism, is also called a portion of the New Church faith.
1903 Seen & Heard 30 Sept. 2937 The besetting sin of our newspaper writers at this time is a devotion to absurdisms—for example, the too common usage of that negroism ‘like’ for ‘as if’; ‘it looks like it was going to rain.’
1989 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 31 Mar. f22 From tonal chaos to extremist convulsions that make the flesh creep, to minimalist absurdisms that numb the senses, it hasn't been easy listening to, let alone understanding, the latest musical inventions.
2010 Guardian (Nexis) 10 Feb. 36 By the second half, you noticed that not all of Vine's gags are high quality, and that some of his cheesy, Harry Hill-like absurdisms were thin.
2. The philosophy, first propounded by Albert Camus, that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe in which attempts to find meaning are futile. Cf. Theatre of the Absurd n. at theatre n. 3f(c).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > existentialism > [noun] > absurdism or concept of the absurd
absurd1946
absurdism1948
1948 M. Grene Dreadful Freedom iii. 57 In extreme contrast to his own philosophy of absurdism, whose heroes are Don Giovanni, the conqueror, the actor—those who glory in the sheer irrational moment—he [sc. Camus] equates existentialism with its religious form.
1954 H. Read Anarchy & Order 13 He [sc. Camus] suggested a philosophy of the absurd, and his subsequent work..has been an affirmation of ‘absurdism’ in politics and ethics, as well as in metaphysics.
1992 M. Bradbury in M. Bradbury & J. Cooke New Writing Introd. 3 His moral and metaphysical anxieties fitted the era of existentialism and absurdism, post-war stress, ideological conflict and division.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1815