irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant i-ˈre-lə-vənt 

: not relevant : inapplicable

that statement is irrelevant to your argument

irrelevantly adverb

Synonyms of irrelevant

• meaningless
• immaterial
• inapplicable
• extraneous
• useless
• inappropriate
• impertinent
• beside the point
• inapposite
• irrelative

Examples of irrelevant in a Sentence

His comment is completely irrelevant.

irrelevant questions that merely disrupted the classroom lesson

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the past half century, Americans have grown accustomed to regional conflicts fought by specialized professional troops, in which the support of Congress or the American public seems more or less irrelevant. — Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

Lamont dismissed Stefanowski’s private-sector record at GE, UBS and the payday lender, DFC Global, as irrelevant, at least compared to a public record. — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026

Sending all of that material directly to a general-purpose model would require it to process an enormous amount of irrelevant content along with the useful information. — Gary Kotovets, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026

The brutalist thump of drummer Moe Tucker renders the showmen in Led Zeppelin and the Who irrelevant. — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for irrelevant

• relevant

Kids Definition

irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant (ˈ)ir-ˈ(r)el-ə-vənt 

: not relevant : not applicable or pertinent

the evidence presented was judged irrelevant to the case

irrelevance

-vən(t)s

noun

or irrelevancy

-vən-sē

irrelevantly adverb

Legal Definition

irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant ir-ˈre-lə-vənt 

: not relevant : not applicable or pertinent

irrelevant allegations

irrelevant evidence

compare immaterial

irrelevantly adverb