different between unlikely vs preposterous

English

Etymology

From Middle English unlykely, unlikly, unlykly, unlicli, equivalent to un- +? likely.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?la?kli/

Adjective

unlikely (comparative unlikelier or more unlikely, superlative unlikeliest or most unlikely)

1. Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected.

   It's very unlikely that you'll be able to walk perfectly after being in a cast for six months.

   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

     Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor.

2. Not holding out a prospect of success; likely to fail; unpromising.

   unlikely means

Translations

Adverb

unlikely (comparative more unlikely, superlative most unlikely)

1. In an improbable manner.

Translations

Noun

unlikely (plural unlikelies)

1. Something or somebody considered unlikely.
   • 1980, Robert K. Lindsay, Applications of artificial intelligence for organic chemistry

     The molecular ion candidates are divided by the testing phase into three categories: rejects, unlikelies, and probables. Differences between each candidate and the prominent peaks in the spectrum are computed.

   • 1996, Laurie R. King, To Play the Fool

     "Here is my every possible phone number, plus a few unlikelies. And I've also put down the numbers of Karin and Wade, in case you've lost them. Karin can come anytime; Wade, up until six in the morning."

   • 2001, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marci Shimoff, Chicken soup for the mother's soul 2 (page 166)

     Then the most unlikely of unlikelies happened. We got another phone call. Another woman wanted to give us a baby—a boy, born just that morning. We walked into a hospital, and he was placed into my arms.

References

• unlikely in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Alternative forms

• præposterous (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???p?st???s/, /p???p?st??s/, /p??-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???p?st???s/, /p???p?st??s/

Adjective

preposterous (comparative more preposterous, superlative most preposterous)

1. Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
   • 2016 January 30, "America deserves more from presidential hopefuls," The National (retrieved 31 January 2016):

     Democrats, too, must be criticised. While they have not made preposterous statements or been threatening or demagogic, they, all too often, have come up short, failing to propose new ideas that can help unwind conflicts raging across the Middle East.

Synonyms

• absurd
• foolish
• irrational
• nonsensical
• See also Thesaurus:absurd

Translations

See also

• topsy-turvy
• upside down

Further reading

• preposterous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• preposterous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.