PREPOSTEROUS Synonyms: 185 Similar and Opposite Words

preposterous

adjective

pri-ˈpä-st(ə-)rəs

as in absurd

conceived or made without regard for reason or reality the idea that extraterrestrials built the pyramids is preposterous

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in silly

showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment a preposterous suggestion to go swimming in this freezing weather

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as in ridiculous

so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter the movie thriller had such a preposterous plot that we were on the edge of our seats snickering

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of preposterous The concept of flying out to distant asteroids and mining them for precious metals is going to seem preposterous right up until the moment that someone actually does it. —

Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2025 Both films are about the preposterous beauty standards foisted upon women in our modern culture, yet both films seem determined to make these same women suffer, while portraying men as mostly bumbling buffoons whose chief infractions are wandering eyes. —

Erik Kain, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025 Any one of these things should derail this preposterous nomination. —

Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2025 Despite some very serious and complex problems looming over our country — inflation, a border crisis, rising crime, our involvement in several wars — Trump’s spent the past couple weeks leading up to his inauguration publicly musing on several preposterous and deeply unserious ideas. —

S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for preposterous

Recent Examples of Synonyms for preposterous

Adjective

These absurd names and acronyms speak to both the cult-y side of the Eagans and to the ways that corporations keep trying to reinvent things, words included, that worked just fine as is.

— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025
This gorgeous film’s premise is a simple, humanist, and not particularly dramatic one, of the type that the Italian neorealists treasured, but it’s been given an absurd, comic-romantic spin.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025