abstract
abstract — adjective
1. describing something that is a thought, feeling, or quality rather than an objec
describing something that is a thought, feeling, or quality rather than an object you can touch or see, such as love, freedom, or honesty.
Justice is an abstract concept that children find hard to grasp.
abstract + concept (typical noun collocation)
Noa struggles to draw abstract feelings like loneliness or hope.
The professor used a red apple to explain abstract ideas about colour.
contrast: physical object used to teach abstract ideas
Freedom remains an abstract word until you have lost it.
For young children, time is an abstract notion they cannot picture.
abstract + notion (typical collocation)
- abstract concept
- abstract idea
- abstract notion
- purely abstract
- highly abstract
- intangible
stronger emphasis on cannot-be-touched; often about value or feelings
- conceptual
more academic; stresses being part of a system of ideas
- theoretical
leans toward unproven, planned in the mind only
Usage Note
Frequently modifies nouns of thought such as concept, idea, notion, principle. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense contrasts an idea with a physical object, while sense 2 contrasts general theory with specific cases.
Common Mistakes
2. talking about a subject only in general or theoretical terms, without using real
talking about a subject only in general or theoretical terms, without using real examples or describing what would actually happen in practice.
Their debate stayed abstract and never touched on what to do tomorrow.
stay/remain + abstract (predicative use)
Viraj prefers concrete cases to abstract arguments about ethics.
contrast: abstract vs concrete arguments
The lecture felt too abstract for students who had never run a business.
On an abstract level, the plan sounds fair, but the numbers do not work.
phrase: on an abstract level
Hadiya wanted real stories, not an abstract discussion of poverty.
- abstract argument
- abstract discussion
- in the abstract
- on an abstract level
- remain abstract
- theoretical
stronger link to academic theory; less negative
- general
milder; simply not specific
- hypothetical
based on imagined situations rather than real ones
Usage Note
Often paired with 'concrete' or 'practical' as the contrasting term. Distinguish from sense 1: a discussion about chairs can be 'abstract' in this sense (general, not about any one chair), even though chairs themselves are concrete objects.
Common Mistakes
3. relating to broad ideas treated on their own, separated from any single real cas
relating to broad ideas treated on their own, separated from any single real case where they might apply — used mainly in the fixed phrase 'in the abstract'.
Freedom sounds wonderful in the abstract, but it brings hard duties too.
fixed phrase: in the abstract
It is easy to love humanity in the abstract and dislike your neighbours.
fixed phrase: in the abstract
Kenji argued for honesty in the abstract but lied to his boss.
Talking about courage in the abstract is far easier than showing it.
- in the abstract
- love something in the abstract
- discuss in the abstract
- in principle
phrase; means in theory rather than in real life
- in theory
phrase; emphasises the gap between idea and practice
- in practice
phrase; how things actually work out
Usage Note
Almost always appears in the set phrase 'in the abstract'. Outside this phrase, prefer sense 2 ('abstract argument'). Distinguish from sense 2: sense 2 modifies the discussion itself; sense 3 frames whether the topic is being treated in isolation from real life.
Common Mistakes
4. describing visual art — paintings, drawings, or sculptures — that explores shape
describing visual art — paintings, drawings, or sculptures — that explores shape, line, and colour for their own beauty or feeling, instead of copying the look of real people, places, or things.
The gallery on Park Street shows abstract paintings full of bold red shapes.
abstract + painting (typical art collocation)
Her grandmother carves small abstract sculptures from pieces of olive wood.
Kandinsky is famous for his early abstract art and dancing colours.
Some viewers walked past the abstract canvas, unsure what it showed.
The school teaches kids abstract painting before strict drawing lessons.
abstract + painting / abstract + art
- abstract art
- abstract painting
- abstract sculpture
- abstract expressionism
- purely abstract
- non-figurative
art-history term; emphasises no recognisable figures
- non-representational
formal art term; does not depict real objects
- figurative
shows recognisable people or things
- representational
tries to copy real-world appearance
Usage Note
Common collocations: abstract art, abstract painting, abstract sculpture, abstract expressionism. Often contrasted with 'figurative' or 'representational' art rather than with 'concrete'.
Common Mistakes
abstract — noun
1. a short piece of writing placed at the start of an article, paper, or report tha
a short piece of writing placed at the start of an article, paper, or report that tells the reader the main findings or arguments in a few sentences.
Each conference paper must include an abstract of under 200 words.
abstract of [length] words (academic format)
Dr. Farouk read the abstract before deciding to download the full study.
typical workflow: read abstract first
Hadiya rewrote her abstract three times to fit the journal's word limit.
The book of abstracts lists every talk given at the conference.
book of abstracts (conference proceedings)
A clear abstract helps busy readers decide which papers to study closely.
- write an abstract
- submit an abstract
- abstract of a paper
- 200-word abstract
- book of abstracts
Grammar Patterns
abstract of [paper/article]
Usage Note
Strongly tied to academic and scientific writing. Subject is usually a paper, study, thesis, or talk. Distinguish from a 'summary': an abstract sits inside the paper itself, while a summary can be written about anything.
Common Mistakes
2. a piece of art — usually a painting — built from shapes, lines, and colours alon
a piece of art — usually a painting — built from shapes, lines, and colours alone, without showing recognisable people, places, or objects.
A bright yellow abstract hangs above the fireplace in Aunt Rosa's lounge.
The museum bought three small abstracts at last month's auction.
Kenji paints landscapes by day and bold abstracts at night.
contrast: landscapes vs abstracts
She turned the photograph into a soft blue abstract using thick paint.
- paint an abstract
- small abstract
- bold abstract
- hang an abstract
- abstract painting
more explicit; no risk of confusion with the summary sense
- non-figurative work
formal art-history term
- figurative work
art that depicts real subjects
Usage Note
Countable; often appears in plural ('abstracts on the gallery wall'). Frequently modified by colour or size words (a small abstract, a vivid red abstract). Distinguish from sense 1: artworks are visual objects, while abstracts in sense 1 are written texts.
Common Mistakes
3. a thought, quality, or condition treated on its own as pure idea, with no link t
a thought, quality, or condition treated on its own as pure idea, with no link to any particular real instance — used mostly in philosophy and academic writing.
For Plato, beauty itself is an abstract that lives beyond every beautiful thing.
The lecturer treats fairness as an abstract worthy of study on its own.
Children learn to handle abstracts like number long before they learn algebra.
Truth, justice, and goodness are the classic abstracts of moral philosophy.
list of canonical abstracts
- abstract of beauty
- philosophical abstract
- pure abstract
- abstraction
more common in this meaning; usually preferred outside philosophy
- concept
broader; covers everyday ideas as well as pure ones
- universal
philosophy term; a quality shared by many things
- particular
philosophy term; a single real instance
- instance
one real example of a general idea
Usage Note
Rare in everyday speech; you will mostly meet it in philosophy classrooms or essays. Distinguish from sense 1 (a written summary) and sense 2 (a painting): this sense names a pure idea, never a physical text or object.
Common Mistakes
abstract — verb
1. to look at many real cases and draw out the shared idea or rule from them, while
to look at many real cases and draw out the shared idea or rule from them, while leaving the small details aside.
Good scientists abstract general laws from many separate experiments.
abstract [law] from [data]
Children abstract the idea of 'three' from groups of three apples or coins.
abstract [concept] from [examples]
Dr. Park asked the class to abstract the main rule from the case studies.
The book abstracts a clear pattern from a hundred small business failures.
Judge Mendez tries to abstract from each victim's story to find the wider pattern.
intransitive: abstract from [particulars]
- abstract a principle
- abstract a rule
- abstract from data
- abstract general laws
- generalize
more common; simpler register
- extract
stronger 'pull out' image; can be physical or mental
- derive
formal; suggests careful reasoning from a source
- particularize
to focus on one specific case
- exemplify
to show through a specific example
Grammar Patterns
abstract [something] from [details]
Usage Note
Often takes the pattern 'abstract X from Y', where Y is concrete details and X is the general idea. Common in academic, scientific, and philosophical writing. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense draws an idea out of details mentally, while sense 2 physically removes a thing.
Common Mistakes
2. to take something or someone out of the place, situation, or set of facts they n
to take something or someone out of the place, situation, or set of facts they normally belong to, often in order to study or move it elsewhere.
Engineers abstract heat from the engine using a network of cooling pipes.
abstract + heat / water / energy from [system]
You cannot abstract one sentence from the speech and judge the whole talk.
abstract [text] from [context]
The factory abstracts water from the river to cool its huge machines.
abstract + water from [river/source]
Critics warn against abstracting old poems from the world that produced them.
The nurse gently abstracted the child from the noisy waiting room.
- abstract water from
- abstract heat from
- abstract from context
- abstract a passage
Grammar Patterns
abstract [something] from [place/context]
Usage Note
Formal register; you will see it in engineering, environmental, and literary writing more than in casual speech. Often pairs with 'from + context/source'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 pulls a general idea out of details mentally; sense 2 physically or analytically separates something from its surroundings.
Common Mistakes
3. to write a short version of a longer paper, article, or report that records its
to write a short version of a longer paper, article, or report that records its key findings and arguments for quick reading.
Library staff abstract every new medical study before adding it to the database.
abstract + study / paper / report
Hadiya was paid to abstract long legal reports into one-page briefs.
abstract [report] into [shorter form]
The journal asks authors to abstract their own articles in 150 words.
abstract one's own article (self-abstract)
Viraj spent his summer abstracting old chemistry papers for the university.
Junior researchers must abstract every source they cite in their thesis.
- abstract a paper
- abstract an article
- abstract a report
- abstract a study
Grammar Patterns
abstract [a paper/article]
Usage Note
Object is almost always a written work: paper, study, report, article, document. Common in librarianship and academic publishing. Distinguish from sense 1 (drawing out a general idea) and sense 2 (removing something): this sense produces a written summary — the noun 'abstract' (noun sense 1) is its product.
Common Mistakes
4. to take something quietly without asking, especially a small or valuable item —
to take something quietly without asking, especially a small or valuable item — a polite or old-fashioned word for stealing.
The young clerk had abstracted small sums from the office cash box for months.
abstract + sums / money from [source]
Someone had abstracted the silver spoon from Aunt Rosa's drawer.
The thief abstracted Noa's wallet while she paid the taxi driver.
Old reports describe servants abstracting wine from the cellar at night.
- abstract money from
- abstract a wallet
- secretly abstract
Grammar Patterns
abstract [something] from [person/place]
Usage Note
Old-fashioned and slightly polite — often used to soften the harshness of 'steal' in journalism or older fiction. Object is usually a small valuable thing or a sum of money. Distinguish from sense 2: sense 2 is neutral removal; sense 4 always implies wrongful taking.
Common Mistakes
Word family
- abstractlyadverbC1
- abstractionnounC1
- abstractnessnounC2
- abstractedadjectiveC2
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
All four words describe things that exist in the mind rather than the physical world, but they highlight different aspects. 'Abstract' is the broadest learner-facing choice and contrasts directly with 'concrete' — an abstract idea has no physical form (love, justice, beauty). 'Intangible' overlaps strongly but stresses that something cannot be touched, weighed, or counted; it is common in business contexts ('intangible assets', 'intangible benefits'). 'Conceptual' is more academic and frames an idea as part of a system of thought, often in design or research ('a conceptual framework', 'a conceptual error'). 'Theoretical' tilts toward unproven or untested ideas — useful in science but often hinting that the idea has not yet met the real world. Compare: 'Freedom is an abstract value' (general feel), 'Goodwill is an intangible asset' (financial), 'Her conceptual model needs more data' (academic), 'A theoretical risk that never appears in practice' (untested).
Common collocations
Nouns
- abstract concept
- abstract idea
- abstract art
- abstract painting
- abstract notion
Adverbs
- highly abstract
- purely abstract
- rather abstract
- increasingly abstract
- too abstract
Phrases
- in the abstract
- an abstract of the paper
- purely in the abstract
Prepositions
- in the abstract
- abstract from
- abstract of
Etymology
Abstract reached English in the late 14th century from Latin 'abstractus', the past participle of 'abstrahere', meaning to draw or pull away (ab- 'away' + trahere 'to drag, pull'). It first described thoughts that had been mentally pulled away from real objects, giving us the philosophy and adjective senses. The art-style sense is much younger, appearing in the early 20th century with painters like Kandinsky who pulled colour and shape away from realistic subjects. The verb senses for summarizing a text and for secretive taking both build on the same core image of 'pulling something out' from a larger whole.