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Definition of abstract adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

abstract

adjective
 
/ˈæbstrækt/
 
/ˈæbstrækt/
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  1. based on general ideas and not on any particular real person, thing or situation
    • abstract knowledge/principles
    • The research shows that pre-school children are capable of thinking in abstract terms.
    compare concrete
    Extra Examples
    • Abstract principles are no good in this particular situation.
    • All human beings are capable of thinking in abstract terms.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    See full entry
  2. existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical reality
    • We may talk of beautiful things but beauty itself is abstract.
    Extra Examples
    • Mathematics is an extremely abstract discipline.
    • Some of the ideas that their legal system is based on are incredibly abstract.
    • Freedom is more than a purely abstract notion.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    See full entry
  3. (of art) not representing people or things in a realistic way, but expressing the artist’s ideas about them
    • the work of American abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko
    compare figurative (2), representationalTopics Artb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    See full entry
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: from Latin abstractus, literally ‘drawn away’, past participle of abstrahere, from ab- ‘from’ + trahere ‘draw off’.
See abstract in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee abstract in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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noun
 
 
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