adjective: absolute

1. 1.not qualified or diminished in any way; total.”absolute secrecy”Similar:completetotalutterout-and-outoutrightentireperfectpuredecidedthoroughthoroughgoingundividedunqualifiedunadulteratedunalloyedunmodifiedunreserveddownrightundilutedsolidconsummateunmitigatedsheerarrantrankdyed-in-the-woolplenaryperemptoryOpposite:partialqualified
   • used for general emphasis when expressing an opinion.”the policy is absolute folly”Similar:definitecertainpositiveunconditionalcategoricalunquestionableundoubtedunequivocaldecisiveconclusiveconfirmedmanifestinfallibleOpposite:partialqualified
   • (of powers or rights) not subject to any limitation; unconditional.”no one dared challenge her absolute authority”Similar:unlimitedunrestrictedunrestrainedunboundedunboundboundlessinfiniteultimatetotalsupremeunconditionalfulluttersovereignomnipotentOpposite:conditional
   • (of a ruler) having unrestricted power.”he proclaimed himself absolute monarch”Similar:autocraticdespoticdictatorialtyrannicaltyrannousauthoritarianarbitraryimperiousdomineeringhigh-handeddraconianautonomoussovereignautarchicautarchicalantidemocraticOpposite:constitutional
   • LAW(of a decree) final.”the decree of nullity was made absolute”
   • LAWsee absolute title.
2. 2.viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative.”absolute moral standards”Similar:universalfixedindependentnonrelativenonvariableabsolutistrigidestablishedsetsettleddefinitedecidedirrevocableunalterableunquestionableauthoritativeincontrovertiblein black and whiteOpposite:relativeflexible
3. 3.GRAMMAR(of a construction) syntactically independent of the rest of the sentence, as in.”dinner being over, we left the table”
   • (of a transitive verb) used without an expressed object (e.g. guns kill ).
   • (of an adjective) used without an expressed noun (e.g. the brave ).

noun

PHILOSOPHY

noun: absolute; plural noun: absolutes

1. a value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things.”good and evil are presented as absolutes”
   • something that exists without being dependent on anything else.noun: the absolute
   • ultimate reality; God.noun: Absolute; noun: the Absolute

Origin

late Middle English: from Latin absolutus ‘freed, unrestricted’, past participle of absolvere (see absolve).