Today’s definition of absurd is to be stupid and unreasonable, or silly in a humorous way and examples of that are:
- What an absurd thing to say!
- Don’t be so absurd! Of course I want you to come.
- It’s an absurd situation – neither of them will talk to the other.
- Do I look absurd in this hat?
One sense of the Latin word absurdus was ‘out of tune’, and in the 17t century absurd was occasionally used with just this meaning. From the Latin sense it developed the meaning ‘out of harmony with reason, irrational’.
The term Theatre of the Absurd, describing drama by writers such as Samual Becket, Eugene Ionesco and Harold Pinter that aims ot convey the futility og human existence in a meaningless universe, was coined by the Hungarian-born British theatre critic Martin Enslin in 1961. Probably the best-known example of the genre is Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot (1952) which prtrays two tramps, estragon and Vladimir, who wait endlessly for the arrival of a mysterious person named Godot.
What is an example of absurd? Something absurd is really silly, absolutely ridiculous, or total nonsense. Thinking you can wear flip flops and a bikini to the North Pole is an absurd idea, for example. If you run into someone dressed in an absurd outfit or watch a movie full of absurd jokes, you’ll probably have a good laugh.
Synonyms for absurd? crazy, foolish, goofy, illogical, irrational, laughable, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, silly, stupid, unreasonable, wacky, loony, tomfool, batty, campy, daffy, dippy, flaky.
What is the absurdity of life? The word absurd refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. In this context, absurd does not mean “logically impossible”, but rather “humanly impossible” (Kierkegaard, 1991).
Wiktitionary defines the original meaning of the word absurd as incongruous, dissonant, out of tune. And says that it was first attested in 1557. From Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”), from ab (“away from, out”) + surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”).
This article is one in a series of articles on the Origins of English Words and Phrases. As a professional writer one has to have an extremely good command of the English Language in order to communicate decent marketing and SEO Strategies for clients.
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Waiting for Godot (1952)
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