# data[].attributes.body
Abstract nouns called something immaterial (Quality, state or action). happiness, courage, faith. many abstract nouns are formed by adding their fixed to adjectives, verbs or nouns

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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 contrasted with concrete nouns, which are words like "cat," "desk," or "Andrew" that refer to physical objects and entities.

Examples: Abstract nouns
Family is important to me.
The passage of time isn't easy to perceive.

The article derides the quality of popular music. The author's snobbishness is plain to see.

Abstract nouns vs. concrete nouns

Abstract nouns differ from concrete nouns in terms of what they describe:

Abstract nouns refer to anything that isn't directly observable. That could mean personal qualities, measurements of time, cultural movements, or concepts.

Concrete nouns refer to what can be perceived with the senses: things, people, animals, and places.

Examples: Abstract nouns and concrete nouns
She expressed her disapproval of his with a .

The same word could often be interpreted as abstract or concrete depending on your perspective and on the context in which it is used. The distinction is often very subjective.

Example: Nouns that can be abstract or concrete
brings people together.
The music playing in the next room prevented her from sleeping.

NoteThere's no grammatical difference in the ways concrete and abstract nouns are used. The point is just to show the different kinds of things that nouns can refer to. The categories are quite subjective and are usually ignored by language authorities (e.g., dictionaries).

Abstract noun examples

Abstract nouns represent a wide variety of things-anything that isn't represented by a concrete noun, in fact. The table below explores a few different categories of things that abstract nouns can refer to.

Personal qualities and emotions

happiness, exhaustion, callousness, nostalgia, presumptuousness, loquacity, anger, love, charisma

Time designations

Tuesday, hours, the 1980s, centuries, midnight, yesterday, the future

States of being

solidity, chaos, peace, vacancy, impermanence, presence, activation, existence

Cultural/political/social/religious movements

Romanticism, feminism, modernism, conservatism, republicanism, Marxism, environmentalism, Christianity, Buddhism

Philosophical and academic concepts

pathos, beauty, possibility, freedom, ethics, ontology, anachronism

Note
Abstract nouns (and concrete nouns) can always be more technically classified as some other type of noun: plural or singular, common noun, proper noun, countable or uncountable, collective noun, etc.

Formation of abstract nouns

A lot (though not all) of the examples given in the previous section followed a few specific patterns in terms of the suffixes they ended with (e.g., "-ness," "-ism").

This is because abstract nouns are formed from adjectives, verbs, and other nouns in a number of standard ways. Common ways of forming abstract nouns are shown in the table below.

NoteNot all abstract nouns are formed in these ways (e.g., "anger" isn't), but nouns formed in these ways are usually considered abstract.

Worksheet: Concrete vs. abstract nouns

Want to test your understanding of the difference between concrete and abstract nouns? Try the worksheet below. Just decide whether each highlighted noun is concrete or abstract.

Other interesting language articles

If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, common mistakes, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

Frequently asked questions

What is an abstract noun?

An abstract noun is a noun describing something that can't be directly perceived with the senses.

Abstract nouns may refer to general or philosophical concepts (e.g., "art," "democracy," "evidence"), emotions and personal qualities (e.g., "happiness," "impatience"), time measurements (e.g., "hours," "January"), or states of being (e.g., "solidity," "instability").

Abstract nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns, which refer to physical things that can be perceived with the senses: objects, substances, places, people and animals, and so on. For example, "window," "Dorian," and "sand."

A concrete noun is a noun describing a physical entity that can be perceived with the senses. Concrete nouns may refer to things (e.g., "phone," "hat"), places (e.g., "France," "the post office"), or people and animals (e.g., "dog," "doctor," "Jamal").

Concrete nouns are contrasted with abstract nouns, which refer to things that can't be directly perceived-ideas, theories, concepts, and so on. Examples include "happiness," "condemnation," "ethics," and "time."

What are the different types of nouns?

There are many ways to categorize nouns into various types, and the same noun can fall into multiple categories or even change types depending on context.

Some of the main types of nouns are:

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

This Scribbr article

Caulfield, J. (2023, April 18). Abstract Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet. Scribbr. Retrieved July 3, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/nouns-and-pronouns/abstract-noun/

Sources

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler's dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Show all sources (3)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Abstract Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
English Grammar: What are Concrete Nouns?

# data[].attributes.body
Concrete nouns are those that designate something material. books, tables, children.

# data[].attributes.body
They are nouns that mean people, animals, things or places in a generic way.
some examples are the following: doctor, man, woman, child, yostin, gelen ect.

# data[].attributes.body
Proper names are nouns that refer to the people, places, or things that are named. they are always written with capital letters