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absolute

/ˈæb.səˌljuːt/

noun

Meaning

  • That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.

    "moral absolutes"

  • Anything that is absolute.

  • In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.

  • (usually capitalized) A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.

  • (usually capitalized) The unity of spirit and nature; God.

  • (usually capitalized) The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced.

  • A concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes; an alcoholic extract of a concrete.

adjective

Meaning

  • Free of restrictions, limitations, qualifications or conditions; unconditional.

    "1658, Samuel Hoard, God[']s Love to Mankind, Manifested, by disprooving his absolute decree for their damnation"

  • Free from imperfection, perfect, complete; especially, perfectly embodying a quality in its essential characteristics or to its highest degree.

    "absolute purity, absolute liberty"

  • Pure, free from mixture or adulteration; unmixed.

    "absolute alcohol"

  • Complete, utter, outright; unmitigated, not qualified or diminished in any way.

    "When caught, he told an absolute lie.   an absolute denial of all charges"

  • Positive, certain; unquestionable.

  • Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty (e.g. a person, opinion or prediction).

  • Fundamental, ultimate, intrinsic; not relative; independent of references or relations to other things or standards.

    "Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from relative rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations."

  • Independent of arbitrary units of measurement, standards, or properties; not comparative or relative.

    "absolute velocity, absolute motion, absolute position"

  • (grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence; not in a syntactical relation with other parts of a text, or qualifying the text as a whole rather than any single word in it, like "it being over" in "it being over, she left".

  • As measured using an absolute value.

    "absolute deviation"

  • Indicating an expression that is true for all real numbers, or of all values of the variable; unconditional.

  • Pertaining to a grading system based on the knowledge of the individual and not on the comparative knowledge of the group of students.

  • Independent of (references to) other arts; expressing things (beauty, ideas, etc) only in one art.

    "absolute music"

  • Absolved; free.

Synonyms

categorical,
unconditional,
unlimited,
unrestricted,
independent,
autocratic,
despotic