preposterosity meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

preposterosity

noun

Etymology From preposter(ous) + -osity.

The quality of being preposterous.

“Dresses in such bad taste!” smiled Miss Marguerita—Marguerita was a model of preposterosity in fashion.1834, [Julia Pardoe], chapter XIII, in Speculation: […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], page 230:
[…] as to the gentleman’s ideal of preposterosity—that this proposition is too preposterous to be considered for a moment—in more than half the States of the Union, the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is limited.1849 September–October, J[ohn] Ross Browne, quoting J. M. Jones, Report of the Debates in the Convention of California, on the Formation of the State Constitution, in September and October, 1849, Washington, D.C.: […] John T[homas] Towers, published 1850, page 230:

4 more examples

[…] if anybody had the temerity then to predict that an acre of lawn could be sown down some day at a nominal cost of as many shillings as it would then require pounds to effect, there would have been no end of opinions upon the preposterosity of the assertion, if there is such a word.1860 June 12, D. Beaton, “Spergula pilifera—Killing Insects—Crinoline Pots”, in George W[illiam] Johnson, Robert Hogg, editors, The Cottage Gardener, Country Gentleman’s Companion, and Poultry Chronicle. […], volume XXIV, number 11/611, London: […] [T]he Proprietors, […], page 164, column 1:
The peculiarity of Satan’s religion is its preposterosity, i. e., putting the cart before the horse.1898, W[illiam] B[axter] Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament, volume IV (Corinthians-Galatians; Paul, the Champion Theologian), M[artin] W[ells] Knapp, page 549:
All these obstructive oddities, I think, have developed as separate ideals because of the grand preposterosity of Professionalism that has created a world-wide cult of mutual incomprehensibility and disconnected special goals.1974, Theodor H[olm] Nelson, Dream Machines, page 45:
His latest book, “Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories” (Random House, $2.95) is an example of what [Theodor] Geisel calls his “logical preposterosity.”1958 May 11, “The Significance of Dr. Seuss”, in The New York Times Book Review, page 30:

Something that is preposterous.

The awkwardness of your feelings during an interview with Mr. Lambert, or any other polished Monster on public view—with the painful restraint laid by your delicacy on your curiosity, as to the particulars of his preposterosities.1807, James Beresford, “[Dialogue the Eighteenth. Miseries of London.] Miseries of Public Places.”, in The Miseries of Human Life; or The Last Groans of Timothy Testy and Samuel Sensitive; […], volume II, London: […] [F]or William Miller, […], by W[illiam] Bulmer and Co. […], page 142:
Had Pliny turned his attention to the more elevated parts of the body, we might perhaps have found that the structure of their heads was equally retrograde with that of their heels; and on this principle some modern Gothic preposterosities might be accounted for, which have hitherto appeared totally inexplicable.1814, R[obert] Huddleston, “Antiquity of the Irish Manuscripts”, in A New Edition of Toland’s History of the Druids: with an Abstract of His Life and Writings; […], Montrose: […] James Watt, for Peter Hill, […]; Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; F. Frost and A. Brown, […]; and J. Watt, […], page 415:

4 more examples

[…]—they return in the preposterosities of fashion, in the thirst for pleasurable gratifications, with a confusion of ideas floating in their brain, similar to the evaporations of intoxicating wine, with airy and unreal taste—[…]1825 October, a Briton [pseudonym], “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Travelling”, in The European Magazine, volume I, number II, London: John Miller, […], page 129:
The happy pair thus suitably united, are not only still extant, but the annual fancy-ball given at Cheltenham by Lieut.-Colonel Wegg and the Dowager Lady Askham, is one of the grandest affairs of the season in that city of preposterosities; […]1845, [Catherine Gore], chapter X, in Self. […], London: Henry Colburn, […], page 351:
Now, the idea of fraud is the utmost absurdity, the utmost preposterosity.1850 September 27, Mr. Benton, quotee, The Congressional Globe, number 128, Washington, D.C.: John C[ook] Rives, published 30 September 1850, page 2047, column 1:
That hotel was remarkably rich in humours outside, for there was a donkey-boys’ stand opposite, and camels often used to stand there, and the law-court was just up the road, and the high road from Karnak entered Luxor at this point. You had only to sit on a chair on the verandah to take notes and photographs of the preposterosities of native life all day long.1910, Douglas Sladen, Queer Things About Egypt, London: Hurst & Blackett, […], page 120: