abstraction

noun

ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən How to pronounce abstraction (audio)
əb-
Synonyms of abstraction
1
a
: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted
b
: an abstract idea or term
2
: absence of mind or preoccupation
3
: abstract quality or character
4
a
: an abstract composition or creation in art
b
: abstractionism
abstractional
ab-ˈstrak-sh(ə-)nəl How to pronounce abstraction (audio)
əb-
adjective
abstractive
ab-ˈstrak-tiv How to pronounce abstraction (audio)
ˈab-ˌstrak-
adjective

Did you know?

From its roots, abstraction should mean basically "something pulled or drawn away". So abstract art is art that has moved away from painting objects of the ordinary physical world in order to show something beyond it. Theories are often abstractions; so a theory about economics, for instance, may "pull back" to take a broad view that somehow explains all of economics (but maybe doesn't end up explaining any of it very successfully). An abstract of a medical or scientific article is a one-paragraph summary of its contents—that is, the basic findings "pulled out" of the article.

Synonyms of abstraction

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Examples of abstraction in a Sentence

abstraction of data from hospital records “Beauty” and “truth” are abstractions. She gazed out the window in abstraction.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There’s a push and pull in your work between representation and abstraction. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 3 Aug. 2026 In the agentic era, the abstraction target is no longer just infrastructure, runtime or platform. — Asanka Abeysinghe, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 Billy’s main creative outlet in her years of solitude has been visual art, and her work—abstractions dominated by the geometric forms of Little Death’s air-vent face—seems like a closed circuit of self-therapy. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 31 July 2026 Corsini and Massimo Vavassori’s script is needlessly cryptic at times, leaving the central figure too much of an abstraction. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 30 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for abstraction

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, "abduction (of a woman), removal, extraction (of a foreign body from a wound), (in philosophy) process by which the mind is able to form universal representations of the properties of distinct objects," borrowed from Late Latin abstractiōn-, abstractiō, from Latin abstrac- (variant stem of abstrahere "to remove forcibly") + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at abstract entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of abstraction was in the 15th century

Rhymes for abstraction

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Browse Nearby Words

abstract expressionism
abstraction
abstractionism
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Abstraction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abstraction. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

abstraction

noun
ab·​strac·​tion ab-ˈstrak-shən How to pronounce abstraction (audio)
1
a
: the act or process of abstracting : the state of being abstracted
b
: an abstract idea or term
2
: an artistic composition or creation having designs that do not represent actual objects
abstractive
-ˈstrak-tiv How to pronounce abstraction (audio)
adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on abstraction

Nglish: Translation of abstraction for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about abstraction

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