preposterous
/pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs/adjective
preposterous is spelled P-R-E-P-O-S-T-E-R-O-U-S: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, preposterous means “Absurd, or contrary to common sense” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in preposterous?
| Letters | 12: P-R-E-P-O-S-T-E-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is preposterous?
Preposterous appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce preposterous?
- UK /pɹɪˈpɒstəɹəs/
- UK /pɹɪˈpɒstɹəs/
- UK /pɹə-/
Preposterous has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-preposterous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of preposterous
- more preposterous comparative
- most preposterous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does preposterous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Preposterous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense absurd, or contrary to common sense:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aberrant, absurde, insensé, ridicule |
| German | grotesk, unmöglich, unerträglich, unsagbar, unsäglich |
| Portuguese | absurdo, insensato |
| Spanish | insensato, prepóstero, descabellado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does preposterous come from?
From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).