preposterous

adj.
Contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd. See synonyms at foolish.

[From Latin praeposterus, inverted, unseasonable : prae-, pre- + posterus, coming behind (from post, behind).]

preposterously pre·pos'ter·ous·ly adv.
preposterousness pre·pos'ter·ous·ness n.

(pri-POS-tuhr-uhs)

adjective
Nonsensical, absurd.

Etymology
From Latin praeposterus (inverted, literally: first coming last), from prae (before) + posterus (coming after).

Usage
"Sane and rational people have been willing to overlook the obvious and believe the most preposterous things, rather than face the truth." — Do We Need a Recount or a Shrink?; Taipei Times (Taiwan); Mar 29, 2004.

"This could be further evidence that the call by the opposition for the funding of political parties is not preposterous. After all the practice is an accepted norm in older and mature democracies around the world." — Time To Fund Political Parties; Mmegi (Gaborone, Botswana); Mar 22, 2004.

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adjective

1. So senseless as to be laughable: absurd, foolish, harebrained, idiotic, imbecilic, insane, lunatic, mad, moronic, nonsensical, silly, softheaded, tomfool, unearthly, zany. Informal cockeyed, crazy, loony, loopy. Slang balmy², dippy, dopey, jerky, sappy, wacky. See ability/inability, knowledge/ignorance.
2. Beyond all reason: obscene, outrageous, ridiculous, shocking, unconscionable, unreasonable. Idioms: out of bounds, out of sight. See usual/unusual.

adj

Definition: ridiculous, bizarre
Antonyms: reasonable, sensible

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - fuldkommen meningsløs, urimelig, latterlig

Nederlands (Dutch)
absurd, ongerijmd

Français (French)
adj. - grotesque, absurde

Deutsch (German)
adj. - absurd, grotesk

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - παράλογος, εξωφρενικός

Italiano (Italian)
assurdo, ridicolo, irragionevole

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - prepóstero, absurdo, ridículo

Русский (Russian)
нелепый, бессмысленный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - absurdo, ridículo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - befängd, omöjlig, bakvänd, idiotisk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
前后颠倒的, 荒谬的, 不合理的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 前後顛倒的, 荒謬的, 不合理的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 앞뒤가 뒤바뀐, 상식을 벗어난

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 前後転倒の, 途方もない, ばかげた, 非常識な, 不合理な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) غير معقول, مخالف للصواب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מגוחך, אבסורדי, לא-טבעי‬

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