surreal

[ suh-ree-uhl, -reel ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of surrealism, an artistic and literary style; surrealistic.
2. having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic:

   surreal complexities of the bureaucracy.

Other Words From

• sur·real·ly adverb
• sur·re·al·i·ty [s, uh, -ree-, al, -i-tee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of surreal¹

First recorded in 1935–40; back formation from surrealism ( def ); sur- ¹( def ), real ¹( def )

Example Sentences

A darkly surreal fantasia about Hollywood misogyny, “The Substance” delivers some of the year’s most fearless acting, along with a bold new directorial voice.

From Los Angeles Times

"He's doing so well now, it's quite surreal but it's really good, especially for those who don't know anything about the eye," they added.

From BBC

“We talked about possibly doing a surreal yellow, almost postapocalyptic look, but it just had this artificiality that we didn’t like, so we leaned into real photography as a starting point.”

From Los Angeles Times

"Coming to Europe is something that we've always dreamt of, so this is absolutely surreal," said Yun-Jin.

From BBC

"He's doing so well now, it's quite surreal but it's really good, especially for those who don't know anything about the eye," they added.

From BBC