as in notions
something imagined or pictured in the mind
to a people who have lived under one dictatorship after another, democracy and freedom are mere abstractions
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Recent Examples of abstractions
Anthropic's Managed Agents platform, launched in April 2026, virtualizes agent components into stable abstractions that outlast any particular model.
—
Perseus Yang, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
My patients were not abstractions.
—Frances Mei Hardin, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2026
Having failed to please Greene with her abstractions, Lovelace O’Neal applied the powder directly to her white canvases, covering it in black pigment that became a background to pastel squiggles.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 13 May 2026
Advertisement The eight children killed in Shreveport—Jayla, Shayla, Kayla, Layla, Markaydon, Sariahh, Khedarrion, and Braylon were not abstractions.
—Earl Smith, Time, 5 May 2026
The approach could feel guarded, reducing intense emotions to abstractions, but in Llobet’s cutting delivery, even the haziest imagery feels personal and real.
—Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 1 May 2026
When the news breaks of faraway civilian casualties — an erroneous air strike on a school that relied on outdated intelligence, for example — the mind takes refuge in abstractions and statistics.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
People are reduced to abstractions or enemies.
—Andrew Behar, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
Perseus Yang, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
My patients were not abstractions.
—Frances Mei Hardin, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2026
Having failed to please Greene with her abstractions, Lovelace O’Neal applied the powder directly to her white canvases, covering it in black pigment that became a background to pastel squiggles.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 13 May 2026
Advertisement The eight children killed in Shreveport—Jayla, Shayla, Kayla, Layla, Markaydon, Sariahh, Khedarrion, and Braylon were not abstractions.
—Earl Smith, Time, 5 May 2026
The approach could feel guarded, reducing intense emotions to abstractions, but in Llobet’s cutting delivery, even the haziest imagery feels personal and real.
—Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 1 May 2026
When the news breaks of faraway civilian casualties — an erroneous air strike on a school that relied on outdated intelligence, for example — the mind takes refuge in abstractions and statistics.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
People are reduced to abstractions or enemies.
—Andrew Behar, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstractions
Noun
-
Atlanta — Going into retirement, 58-year-old David White of Atlanta, Georgia, had some preconceived notions.—
Steve Hartman,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
-
With a cast drawn from comedy-scene friends such as Kate Berlant and Conner O’Malley all tuned into a very specific wavelength, the movie somehow surpasses conventional notions of camp and irony to exist in a genuinely unique space all its own.—
Tracy Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Long before modern multiculturalism, the American founding itself drew heavily upon biblical ideas and categories rooted in the Torah.—
Ari Berman,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
-
This brief genius window can make strategy clearer, reveal missing pieces, and turn vague ideas into usable next steps.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
This includes physical assets - like plants, equipment, and products - to concepts like customer orders or financial transactions.—
Steve Banker,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
In recent years, BMW has shown a willingness to put its Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este concepts, like the Skytop roadster and Speedtop shooting brake, into production, but there appear to be no plans to do the same with the Vision BMW Alpina as of now.—
Bryan Hood,
Robb Report,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Mercury enters your sign, helping your thoughts land faster, cleaner, and with more personality.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
17 May 2026
-
Din eventually finds former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), who can read Grogu's thoughts.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
Some say the country is a secular republic founded on 18th-century conceptions of human reason and natural law.—
Thomas Tweed,
The Conversation,
24 Apr. 2026
-
In reaction against the waste of life and ill-success of Mazzini’s program, moderate opinion tended to crystallize around federal conceptions of the solution of the Italian problem.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
On this night, as Rashad posed for pictures in Bushwick, SZA was a few miles away in Manhattan, walking the red carpet at the Met Gala.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
-
Once in the asteroid's orbit, NASA's spacecraft is slated to take pictures of the asteroid's surface and shed light on its composition, over the course of about two years.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
First impressions might make a traveler feel like the beaches could be private, but Cape San Blas is fully open for public play.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
17 May 2026
-
At 9300 Touchstone Court, first impressions say it all.—
David Caraccio
May 16,
Sacbee.com,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abstractions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstractions. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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