irrelevance

noun

ir·​rel·​e·​vance i-ˈre-lə-vən(t)s How to pronounce irrelevance (audio)
1
: the quality or state of being irrelevant
2
: something irrelevant

Examples of irrelevance in a Sentence

the irrelevance of the comment brought conversation to a standstill
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Every February and September, when the event takes place, critics and showgoers bemoan that the entire affair is strangled by commercialism and limping toward irrelevance. Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025 This is why most pilots die, not of failure, but due to irrelevance. Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025 In sacrificing its global influence for the chance to spend the past year pulverizing the previously unheard-of city of Pokrovsk in the Donbas, Russia has proved not its resilience but its near irrelevance. Jeremy Shapiro, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2025 Since the election, Reform has tried to refashion itself from a protest vote party to one that could govern – untried and inexperienced, but ready to step in if the Labour Party buckles under its own blunders, and the once-mighty Conservatives drift further into political irrelevance. Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for irrelevance

Word History

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of irrelevance was in 1843

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Cite this Entry

“Irrelevance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrelevance. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

Legal Definition

irrelevance

noun
ir·​rel·​e·​vance ir-ˈre-lə-vəns How to pronounce irrelevance (audio)
1
: the quality or state of being irrelevant
2
: something that is irrelevant

More from Merriam-Webster on irrelevance

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