surreal
nounEtymology A back-formation from surrealism, equivalent to sur- + real.
1
Mathematics, Sciences A surreal number.
surreal
adjUK, US /səˈɹiː(.ə)l/
Etymology A back-formation from surrealism, equivalent to sur- + real.
1
Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous.
- surreal picture/sound/art
- a surreal experience
4 more examples
- The movie had a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere.
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- Derived terms
- surrealia, surrealish, surrealism, surrealist, surrealistic, surreality, surrealize, surreally, surrealness, surreal number, surrealscape, surrealty
- Related terms
- real