absolute
Forms
- Comparative
- more absolute
- Superlative
- most absolute
- Plural
- absolutes
Definitions
1.Free of restrictions, limitations, qualifications or conditions; unconditional.
- The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, / With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed.
- An absolute monarch is free from all forcible restraint, and so far as he is absolute[,] from all legal restraints of positive laws.
2.Free from imperfection, perfect, complete; especially, perfectly embodying a quality in its essential characteristics or to its highest degree.
- So absolute she seems, / And in herself complete.
- Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.
3.Pure, free from mixture or adulteration; unmixed.
4.Complete, utter, outright; unmitigated, not qualified or diminished in any way.
- When caught, he told an absolute lie.
1.That which exists (or has a certain property, nature, size, etc) independent of references to other standards or external conditions; that which is universally valid; that which is not relative, conditional, qualified or mitigated.
- Often one is dealing not with absolutes (complete stability) but with relative differences in rate (see below).
- When discussing these concepts, it is unreasonable to expect absolutes. Complete impact, complete compliance with Court decisions, and complete implementation are a myth even for the most admired Supreme Court decisions.
2.In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
3.The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced; the unity of spirit and nature; God.
4.A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
- Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the absolute.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3063
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Antonyms
Word family
Etymology
First attested around 1380.
From Middle English absolut, from Middle French absolut, from Latin absolūtus (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“loosen, set free, complete”), from ab (“away”) + solvo (“to loose”).