Abstract Nouns Definition, Examples, and Sentences
An abstract noun is one that is used to mean an idea, experience, or quality rather than an object. This happiness, intention, and shock are abstract nouns whereas, for example, pen, bed, and trousers are not. There are a number of suffixes that are used particularly frequently in the formation of abstract nouns.
Some of the most common are - ment, -ion, -ness and –ity. Note: -ment and –ion are usually used to make verbs into abstract nouns whereas – ness and –ity are added to adjectives; -ion sometimes becomes –tion, -sion, -ation or –ition.
An abstract noun is a noun that refers to something non-physical—something conceptual that you can't perceive directly with your senses. Examples include “sadness,” “analysis,” “government,” and “adulthood.” Abstract nouns are ideas that refer to quality. They cannot be felt like physical objects. Examples: The beauty of her actions will live longer than her beautiful face.
Abstract noun- Beauty, goodness, old-age, childhood, honesty, truth, wisdom, bravery, sadness, happiness, etc.
The abstract noun of "explain" is "explanation." An explanation is a description or justification which makes an idea or argument easier to understand.
Here are some examples of abstract nouns using those suffixes.
- Achievement
- action
- aggressiveness
- absurdity
- Adjustment
- collection
- attractiveness
- anonymity
- Amazement
- combination of bitterness
- complexity
- Discouragement
- illusion of carelessness
- curiosity
- Improvement of imagination
- consciousness
- generosity
- Investment
- production
- tenderness
- prosperity
- Retirement
- reduction
- ugliness
- sensitivity
Here are some of the most used abstract nouns with example sentences:
1. Ability – The manager had lost his ability to motivate the players.
2. Adoration – He gave her a look of adoration.
3. Adventure – He had some exciting adventures in Italy.
4. Amazement – She shook her head in amazement.
5. Anger – He feels a lot of anger towards his father.
6. Anxiety – Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion.
7. Awe – They were both in awe of their grandfather.
8. Beauty – It was a scene of indescribable beauty.
9. Belief – I have no belief in magic.
10. Bravery – They were awarded medals for their bravery.
11. Brilliance – He did not want to hear about his child’s brilliance.
12. Brutality – This is an act of extreme brutality.
13. Calmness – He exudes calmness and never gets rattled.
14. Chaos – There is complete chaos in the stadium at the moment.
15. Charity – The charity provides help for homeless people.
16. Comfort – He wants to retire and live in comfort for the rest of his life.
17. Communication – The Internet is an effective means of communication.
18. Compassion – the victims should be treated with compassion.
19. Confidence – He’s completely lacking in confidence.
20. Courage – He called on all her courage to face the ordeal.
21. Crime – He has admitted to committing several crimes.
22. Dedication – It took a lot of hard work and dedication to finish the work on time.
23. Defeat – In the last match, they suffered a crushing defeat.
24. Despair – The team is in despair after the loss.
25. Determination – He succeeded because of sheer determination.
26. Disappointment – He couldn’t hide her disappointment.
27. Disturbance – Phone calls are the biggest disturbance at work.
28. Dream – He had a recurrent dream about falling from the warplane.
29. Education – He should be fortunate to have had such a good education.
30. Ego – She had such an enormous ego.
31. Elegance – She was a slender woman with grace and elegance.
32. Energy – I just haven’t got the energy to finish the work.
33. Enthusiasm – He has lost his enthusiasm for the sport.
34. Envy – His new car is the envy of all his friends.
35. Evil – I don’t believe human beings are innately evil.
36. Excitement – He was jumping up and down with excitement.
37. Failure – The whole project was a complete failure.
38. Faith – I have great faith in you.
39. Fear – He has a fear of heights.
40. Forgiveness – Forgiveness of oneself is the hardest of all.
41. Fragility – It’s a film about the fragility of relationships.
42. Freedom – Do we have some freedom of choice?
43. Friendship – She formed a close friendship with the group.
44. Generosity – He was overwhelmed by the generosity of his friends.
45. Goodness – Mother Teresa’s goodness is an example to us all.
46. Gossip – He had been spreading gossip about his coworkers.
47. Grace – She moved through the crowd with effortless grace.
48. Grief – She was overcome with grief when her husband died.
49. Happiness – He struggled to find happiness in his life.
50. Hate – I hate traveling by plane.
51. Honesty – He should be praised for his honesty.
52. Honor – His portrait hangs in the place of honor.
53. Hope – I hope they get what they deserve.
54. Hospitality – Scotland is renowned for its hospitality.
55. Humility – He doesn’t have the humility to admit when he’s wrong.
56. Humor – He has a beautiful sense of humor.
57. Hurt – He was badly hurt by the end of his marriage.
58. Idea – It was such a brilliant idea.
59. Idiosyncrasy – One of her many idiosyncrasies is always smelling a book before opening it.
60. Imagination – He was blessed with a vivid imagination.
61. Impression – What was your impression of his husband?
62. Improvement – There’s still room for improvement in his condition.
63. Infatuation – No one expected his infatuation to last.
64. Inflation – China’s consumer inflation remains steady.
65. Information – That is a vital piece of information.
66. Insanity – He suffered from bouts of insanity.
67. Integrity – He is a gentleman of complete integrity.
68. Intelligence – She is a person of average intelligence.
69. Jealousy – He broke his friend’s new toy in a fit of jealousy.
70. Joy – They were filled with joy when their first child was born.
71. Justice – He felt that her exam results didn’t do her justice.
72. Kindness – I would like to express my thanks for your kindness.
73. Knowledge – He has limited knowledge of French.
74. Laughter – His stories had them in fits of laughter.
75. Law – Shooting animals is against the law.
76. Leisure – What do you do in your leisure time?
77. Liberty – He fought for his liberty.
78. Life – He doesn’t know what he really wants in life.
79. Loss – He suffered a gradual loss of memory.
80. Love – He said he would always love her.
81. Loyalty – His loyalty was never in question.
82. Luck – The best of luck with your exams!
83. Maturity – It takes maturity to be a leader.
84. Memory – Loss of memory is a natural part of old age.
85. Mercy – She appealed to the judge to have mercy on her husband.
86. Misery – He just wanted to end the misery of waiting.
87. Motivation – There seems to be a lack of motivation among the players.
88. Movement – He made a sudden movement to frighten the bird away.
89. Need – Babies need constant care.
90. Omen – It is a good omen for the future.
91. Opinion – He didn’t express an opinion on the matter.
92. Opportunity – He was never given the opportunity of going to college.
93. Pain – Are you suffering from pain?
94. Peace – He just wanted to drink a few beers in peace.
95. Peculiarity – For all his peculiarities, she finds him quite endearing.
96. Perseverance – Through hard work and perseverance, he worked his way up to the top.
97. Pleasure – Running is one of my few pleasures.
98. Poverty Thousands of families are living in abject poverty.
99. Power – She has the power to charm any man she wants.
100. Pride – You should take more pride in your work.
101. Reality – Novels provide an escape from reality.
102. Relaxation – I go fishing for relaxation.
103. Relief – After the exam, I felt an incredible sense of relief.
104. Romance – It was just a holiday romance.
105. Rumor – He didn’t believe the rumor.
106. Sleep – I couldn’t get any sleep at all last night.
107. Sorrow – A bereaved person needs time to work through their sorrow.
108. Speculation – There has been widespread speculation that he plans to retire.
109. Stupidity – His stupidity is beyond belief sometimes.
110. Success – The success rate for this operation is very low.
111. Surprise – The announcement came as a complete surprise.
112. Sympathy – I don’t have much sympathy for them.
113. Thrill – I like the thrill of jumping out of an airplane.
114. Tolerance – Our father never showed much tolerance towards us.
115. Trust – A good relationship is based on trust and understanding.
116. Truth – I was satisfied that she was telling the truth.
117. Uncertainty – There’s an element of uncertainty in our plans.
118. Unemployment – We are firmly committed to reducing unemployment.
119. Unreality – There’s an air of unreality about the situation.
120. Victory – Trump is claiming victory over Iran.
121. Weakness – His weakness is being taken advantage of by others.
122. Wealth – Her personal wealth is estimated to be more than a billion.
123. Wisdom – My father gave me a few words of wisdom.
124. Wit – He had the wit to realize that the only way out was up.
125. Worry – He was in constant worry for himself as well as for his children.
1. What is the abstract noun related to each of the following adjectives? All the nouns are formed in ways described on the opposite page although not all are listed opposite.
a. Affection
b. Excitement
c. Kindness
d. Security
e. Amusement
f. Grace
g. Originality
h. Stupidity
i. Attentiveness
j. Happiness
k. Popularity
l. Weakness
m. Equality
n. Hope
o. Resentment
p. Wisdom
2. Which abstract noun on the opposite page is a synonym of each of the following?
a. Hostility or aggressiveness
b. Amazement
c. Curiosity
d. Brotherhood
e. Replacement
f. Stardom
g. Reduction
h. Neighborhood
i. Sight
j. Freedom
k. Rage
l. Prosperity
4. Which of the words in the list below is described in the following quotations?
a. Jealousy
b. Happiness
c. Hope
d. Love
e. Permanence; beauty
5. Write your own quotations to describe the following abstract nouns.
a. Freedom is an indivisible word. If we want to enjoy it and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone.
b. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art … It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
c. Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.
d. Four be the things I’d be better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
e. Where there is no imagination, there is no horror.