Preposterous

Alternative forms

• præposterous archaic

Origin

From Latin praeposterus ("with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted"), from prae ("before") + posterus ("coming after").

Full definition of preposterous

Adjective

1. Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 16, The preposterous altruism too!...Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

Synonyms

• absurd
• foolish
• irrational
• nonsensical