abstract
Other forms: abstracted; abstracts; abstracting
Use the adjective abstract for something that is not a material object or is general and not based on specific examples.
Abstract is from a Latin word meaning "pulled away, detached," and the basic idea is of something detached from physical, or concrete, reality. It is frequently used of ideas, meaning that they don't have a clear applicability to real life, and of art, meaning that it doesn't pictorially represent reality. It is also used as a noun, especially in the phrase "in the abstract" (a joke has a person laying down a new sidewalk saying "I like little boys in the abstract, but not in the concrete"), and as a verb (accented on the second syllable), meaning "to remove."
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existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment“abstract words like `truth' and `justice'”
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Synonyms:
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conceptional, ideational, notional
being of the nature of a notion or concept
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conceptual
being or characterized by concepts or their formation
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ideal
constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception
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ideologic, ideological
concerned with or suggestive of ideas
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nonrepresentational
of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature
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impalpable, intangible
incapable of being perceived by the senses especially the sense of touch
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Antonyms:
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concrete
capable of being perceived by the senses; not abstract or imaginary
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objective
belonging to immediate experience of actual things or events
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real, tangible
capable of being treated as fact
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practical
concerned with actual use or practice
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existent, real
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
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tangible, touchable
perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch
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conceptional, ideational, notional
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not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature“a large abstract painting”
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synonyms:
abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective
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nonrepresentational
of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature
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nonrepresentational
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dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention“abstract reasoning”“abstract science”
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Synonyms:
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theoretical
concerned with theories rather than their practical applications
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theoretical
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a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance“he loved her only in the abstract--not in person”
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synonyms:
abstraction
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types:
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right
an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature
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absolute
something that is conceived or that exists independently and not in relation to other things; something that does not depend on anything else and is beyond human control; something that is not relative
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teacher
a personified abstraction that teaches
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thing
a special abstraction
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access
the right to obtain or make use of or take advantage of something (as services or membership)
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advowson
the right in English law of presenting a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice
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cabotage
the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders
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claim, title
an informal right to something
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due
that which is deserved or owed
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access, accession, admission, admittance, entree
the right to enter
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floor
the parliamentary right to address an assembly
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grant
a right or privilege that has been granted
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human right
(law) any basic right or freedom to which all human beings are entitled and in whose exercise a government may not interfere (including rights to life and liberty as well as freedom of thought and expression and equality before the law)
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legal right
a right based in law
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pre-emption, preemption
the right to purchase something in advance of others
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exclusive right, perquisite, prerogative, privilege
a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right)
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privilege
(law) the right to refuse to divulge information obtained in a confidential relationship
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representation
the right of being represented by delegates who have a voice in some legislative body
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right of action
the legal right to sue
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right of search
the right of a belligerent to stop neutral ships on the high seas in wartime and search them
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right of way
the right of one vehicle or vessel to take precedence over another
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states' rights
the rights conceded to the states by the United States constitution
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voting right
the right to vote; especially the right of a common shareholder to vote in person or by proxy on the affairs of a company
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riparian right, water right
right of access to water
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type of:
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concept, conception, construct
an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances
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a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
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give an abstract (of)
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consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically
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consider apart from a particular case or instance
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make off with belongings of others
Vocabulary lists containing abstract
In this first book of The Reckoners series, eighteen-year-old David Charleston looks for weaknesses in the supernaturally powerful Epics so that he can avenge the murder of his father and restore freedom to the city that used to be Chicago.
When sixteen-year-old Harrison Meredith finds out that his best friend Linus Munro is moving away, he plans a surprise day of adventures.
In this nonfiction story of America, the authors recount the struggles of key African Americans in the country's march towards the equality and justice promised by the Constitution.
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