1
as in spiritual
not composed of matter
it is only possible to study immaterial forces like gravity by observing their effects on the physical world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irrelevant
not having anything to do with the matter at hand
while undoubtedly upsetting, that story is immaterial to the question of why you are late
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of immaterial
If strict fidelity gets in the way, it can be treated as immaterial.
—
Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Local women are invited to share still-raw memories, to grapple together with the kinds of things that would be immaterial to the courts.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2026
Whether a season ends in Game 7 of the first round or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is immaterial.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 14 May 2026
Without careful scrutiny, investors risk paying premium valuations for technological capabilities that are still experimental, limited in scope, or economically immaterial.
—Perrie M. Weiner, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Local women are invited to share still-raw memories, to grapple together with the kinds of things that would be immaterial to the courts.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2026
Whether a season ends in Game 7 of the first round or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is immaterial.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 14 May 2026
Without careful scrutiny, investors risk paying premium valuations for technological capabilities that are still experimental, limited in scope, or economically immaterial.
—Perrie M. Weiner, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for immaterial
Adjective
-
Related Stories The project will explore Gaudí’s life, inner battles and spiritual evolution, framing the architect as a radical creative force shaped by faith and an increasingly austere existence.—
Emiliano de Pablos,
Variety,
16 June 2026
-
He’s also teamed with Sam Obey, Will Epstein, and Celia Hollander to explore drifting ambient music and spiritual jazz.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
That's nice, but also irrelevant if the debtor is not resident in one of those states (and maybe not even then).—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
-
No one wants to think about being replaced; no one wants to feel irrelevant in their own lives.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
Followers of the Abrahamic religions are supposed to treat God as immaterial and incorporeal, yet these early Yahweh worshippers imagined him as fully embodied.—
Manvir Singh,
New Yorker,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Positioned as a large-scale genre event, the series updates the legendary SFX property with a contemporary political and social edge, with Shun Oguri leading the cast as a detective hunting a seemingly incorporeal killer.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Instrumental rock music of the kind Horse Lords make—hypnotic, hyper-focused, complex—usually carries a whiff of manifesto, offering a map toward transcendence of some political, metaphysical, or pick-your-variety kind.—
Jayson Greene,
Pitchfork,
16 June 2026
-
Rationality lurks in theology from the beginning, just as philosophy never shakes off its yearning for the metaphysical.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
Adjective
-
Put simply, superheated plasma was being tested as fuel, but the temperatures melted any sort of solid container, so the experiments used nonmaterial vessels formed from extremely powerful magnetic fields.—
Werner Herzog,
The New Yorker,
21 Aug. 2023
-
The first part of the book is committed to a ground-clearing exercise, describing the various concepts of the nonmaterial soul that feature in many different religious belief systems.—
Denis Alexander,
Washington Post,
17 Mar. 2023
Adjective
-
And public health is so invisible.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2026
-
There, on May 29, Sojourner Truth delivered a legendary speech that called on attendees to reject the racial and gender biases used to limit her place in society and to defy a status quo that devalued her as a Black woman and treated her as invisible and expendable.—
Jocelyn Frye,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
These thin sheets of lead containing scratches of supernatural desires were used to sway a court case, target a rival, or even a lover, as per Archaeology News.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
20 June 2026
-
In the popular imagination, romantasy is a heterosexual affair, centered on mortal heroines and their supernatural suitors.—
Angelina Mazza,
Vulture,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
In Ayurveda, Prana, the life force carried by the breath, is understood to nourish both the mind and body and can be viewed as a nonphysical substance, finer than oxygen.—
Trisha Swift,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
-
In accounting, intangible assets are nonphysical possessions including such things as brands and intellectual property, software, mineral rights ‒ and contracts.—
Alexander Coolidge,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Immaterial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/immaterial. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
