surreal en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /syːˈɹiː(.ə)l/ (UK, US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /səˈɹiː(.ə)l/ (UK, US)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super- Old French sur- French sur- Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís Proto-Italic *reis Classical Latin rēs Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin reālisder. Old French reel Middle French real French réel Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)bor. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French réalisme French surréalismebor. English surrealismbf. English surreal A back-formation from surrealism, equivalent to sur- + real.
Meanings
-
Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous.
Incomprehensible violence and the tragedy that follows, the implication goes, inject a surreal dimension into existence. The conspiracy theories and social upheavals spawned by our own world’s mass departures—and, Lindelof has noted, electoral surprises—suggest that the strangeness of The Leftovers is mostly one of degree, not kind.
2017 June 16, Spencer Kornhaber, “The Dizzying, Surreal Journey of ‘The Leftovers’”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:Other moments of grace played out during an otherwise surreal evening.
2026 April 26, Linda Feldmann, “After the gunfire: Moments of grace at White House correspondents’ dinner”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC:The movie had a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere.
As people gushed over and grappled with the model’s capabilities, to a degree that exceeded many employees’ expectations, the web app [DALL·E 2] went viral across social media, producing a plethora of wild, wacky, and surreal AI-generated art in its wake.
2025, Karen Hao, Empire of AI, New York City: Penguin Press, →ISBN:Mr. Trump’s surreal endeavor to conquer Greenland is of a piece with his general hostility to Europe.
2026 January 9, James Kirchick, “Greenland Is Only the Beginning. Trump Has His Sights Set on Europe.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:a surreal experience
Three weeks after the second Time meltdown cover, one day after Leonard Cohen died, Donald Trump pulled off one of the greatest upsets in American political history. That’s when 2016 went from being a bad dream to full-on waking nightmare, one that’s just gotten worse and worse, and more and more surreal.
2016 December 19, Dave Bry, “'Surreal' is Merriam-Webster's word of the year. Sounds about right”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:surreal picture/sound/art
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most surreal | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more surreal | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
surrealize · surreality · surreal number · surrealish · surrealism · surrealia · surreally · surrealscape · surrealist · surrealty · surrealness · surrealistic
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (25)
bg сюрреалистичен (fantastic and incongruous) · kk сюрреалистік (fantastic and incongruous) · ja 超現実的 (fantastic and incongruous) · el υπερρεαλιστικός (fantastic and incongruous) · de surreal (fantastic and incongruous) · gd os-fhìreach (fantastic and incongruous) · sv drömsk (fantastic and incongruous) · tl kubtunay (fantastic and incongruous) · cmn 超現實的 /超现实的 (fantastic and incongruous) · el σουρεαλιστικός (fantastic and incongruous) · ro suprareal (fantastic and incongruous) · he הזוי (fantastic and incongruous) · ca surrealista (fantastic and incongruous) · fi epätodellinen (fantastic and incongruous) · gl surrealista (fantastic and incongruous) · pt surreal (fantastic and incongruous) · fr surréel (fantastic and incongruous) · ru сюрреалисти́чный (fantastic and incongruous) · pl surrealistyczny (fantastic and incongruous) · nl surreëel (fantastic and incongruous) · sv overklig (fantastic and incongruous) · cmn 玄妙 (fantastic and incongruous) · ja シュール (fantastic and incongruous) · nl bovenwerkelijk (fantastic and incongruous) · es surreal (fantastic and incongruous)