preposterous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Completely unreasonable; ridiculous.

   The idea that he could finish in a single day is preposterous.

Simplified etymology

Preposterous comes from Latin praeposterus, formed from prae, “before,” and posterus, “coming after.” Latin used it for something reversed or back to front and, figuratively, for something absurd; English originally shared both senses, though the literal sense is now rare.

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

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