surreal

adjective

sur·​re·​al sə-ˈrē(-ə)l 

also -ˈrā-əl

1

a

: marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream

I found myself in the surreal position of having to explain … that I was, in fact, me, and not that other version of me on the West Side.

—Johnna Kaplan

… tiny glitches in photographic reproduction gleaned from newspapers and magnified to surreal effect.

—Peter Schjeldahl

b

: very strange or unusual

The whole process of making and recording the song and video with such an icon has been very surreal.

—Brianne Tracy

also : unbelievable, fantastic

surreal sums of money

2

: of or relating to surrealism : surrealistic

… the many Spanish surreal artists, such as Salvador Dalí, Juan Miró, Luis Buñuel, and Pablo Picasso.

—Nell Nolan

surreality

(ˌ)sə-rē-ˈa-lə-tē 

noun

surreally adverb

Did you know?

In 1924 a group of European poets, painters, and filmmakers founded a movement that they called Surrealism. Their central idea was that the unconscious mind (a concept Sigmund Freud had recently made famous) was the source of all imagination, and that art should try to express its contents. The unconscious, they believed, revealed itself most clearly in dreams. The Surrealist painters included René Magritte, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí, whose "limp watches" painting became the best-known Surrealist image of all. Since those years, we've used surreal to describe all kinds of situations that strike us as dreamlike. And even though the Surrealist movement ended long ago, surrealism now seems to be everywhere—not just in painting, literature, and movies but also in blogs, video games, and graphic novels.

Examples of surreal in a Sentence

Despite all the hassle, though, I would not want an ordinary name. I know of one other person in the world who shares my name, first and last. I know nothing about her except that she lived in New York at the same time I did, and that she and I subscribed to a few of the same publications. I found myself in the surreal position of having to explain to circulation departments that I was, in fact, me, and not that other version of me on the West Side. —Johnna Kaplan, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2008

Films aren't just a part of life for people in India; they are a way of life. The over-the-top, surreal dance numbers in nearly every Bollywood film often make no sense in relation to the story, but no one seems to be complaining. —Shashank Samant, The Out Traveler, May/June 2005

The movie achieves a truly rare mix of the absurd, the surreal, and the heartfelt. Improbably, its wacked-out premise and structural hilarity concoct a melancholy meditation on love, loss, and memory, while delivering a message—subversive to our culture's therapeutic optimism—about the tragedy of healing. —Rand Richards Cooper, Commonweal, 23 Apr. 2004

The whole thing was completely surreal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Not Pop, not Funk, not surreal or Conceptual, and certainly not Minimal, Nilsson’s work is practically an advertisement for postwar Chicago’s alternative tradition. —Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026

Watermelon Pool was first published in Korea in 2015, and this new English translation brings its wonderfully surreal story and artwork to a new audience of imaginative young fans. —Literary Hub, 1 June 2026

Peridot sits on the 38th floor of The Henderson and stands out as a surreal green bar and restaurant designed by Studio Paolo Ferrari. —Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Stylistically, these books are often surreal and oneiric, with the gauzy texture of childhood reverie. —Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 1 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from surrealism

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for surreal

• abele
• alkyl
• anneal
• appeal
• cartwheel
• conceal
• congeal
• coquille
• corneal
• cornmeal
• flywheel
• genteel