English → Latin
“absurd” in Latin
īnsulsusunsalted, flavorless; deprived of wit, not clever, dull, stupid, absurd; bungling, awkwardabsurdusdiscordant, harsh; incongruous, inconsistent, illogical; silly, stupid, senseless, absurd, worthlessineptusunsuitable; impertinent, improper, tasteless; senseless, sillyfatuusfoolish, silly, simple, stupid; insipid, tasteless; awkward, clumsy, unwieldysubabsurdussomewhat absurdperabsurdusvery absurdineptiōto be silly, play the fool, trifle; to talk or act strangely or absurdlynūgorto jest, trifle, play the fool, talk nonsense; to trick, cajole, cheat
The English word absurd itself goes back to Latin surdus, through absurdus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
absurd
insulsus (=in-salsus): absurdus (foolish, senseless): ineptus (= inaptus, without tact and propriety): inficetus (opposed to facetus. - All three of men and things): fatuus (weak, foolish, of persons). (The words are found in this connection and order), ineptus et absurdus. Somewhat absurd, subabsurdus. Very absurd, perabsurdus. To be absurd, ineptire; nugari, nugas agere.
Contradictory to reason, rationi repugnans. To be absurd, rationi repugnare.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for absurd?
- The usual Latin words for “absurd” are īnsulsus, absurdus, ineptus; also fatuus, subabsurdus, perabsurdus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.