immateriality

noun

im·​ma·​te·​ri·​al·​i·​ty ˌi-mə-ˌtir-ē-ˈa-lə-tē How to pronounce immateriality (audio)
plural immaterialities
1
: the quality or state of being immaterial
2
: something immaterial

Examples of immateriality in a Sentence

the cost of such a lavish affair may be a matter of some immateriality to the wedding planner, but not to the person who has to foot the bill
Recent Examples on the Web The material’s very immateriality disguises the building’s mass, somehow making the immense, mountainous structure appear as light as a balloon, an extraordinary feat. Mark Lamster, Dallas News, 1 June 2023 McCarthy has pocketed his own liturgical, ecstatic style as one would a coin, a ring, a key, in the service of a more demanding and heartless inquiry through mathematics and physics into the immateriality, the indeterminacy, of reality. Joy Williams, Harper’s Magazine , 14 Dec. 2022 Grosse uses industrial spray paint on thin fabric, which is hung, not stretched, giving the painting a kind of liminal immateriality. Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 29 July 2019 This is a small, quiet show that potently traverses realms of materiality and immateriality, connecting ideas about what’s seen and unseen, and what’s in-between. Gayle Clemans, The Seattle Times, 7 Aug. 2018 In her immateriality, Melania well represents the status of women under Trump — absent, frozen out, erased from the picture. Rhonda Garelick, The Cut, 11 June 2018 For all their seeming immateriality, the internet and the cloud rely on a vast industrial infrastructure consisting of data centers linked through a sprawling network of fiber optics. James Glanz, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'immateriality.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of immateriality was in 1570

Dictionary Entries Near immateriality

Cite this Entry

“Immateriality.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immateriality. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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