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
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Recent Examples of immaterial
Whether his name is cleared, Jud resolves, is immaterial.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2025
But whether the Beach fair maintains its hold on the larger art world after 23 years is immaterial, said veteran Miami collector, artist and filmmaker Dennis Scholl at Wednesday’s opening.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
As long as the order is understandable, the form of the order is immaterial, as is the method by which it is transmitted to the accused.
—Christa Swanson, CBS News, 22 Nov. 2025
Whether the Fed lowers its benchmark rate in December or January is immaterial, as long as the central bank persists in cutting interest rates.
—Jeff Kilburg, CNBC, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2025
But whether the Beach fair maintains its hold on the larger art world after 23 years is immaterial, said veteran Miami collector, artist and filmmaker Dennis Scholl at Wednesday’s opening.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
As long as the order is understandable, the form of the order is immaterial, as is the method by which it is transmitted to the accused.
—Christa Swanson, CBS News, 22 Nov. 2025
Whether the Fed lowers its benchmark rate in December or January is immaterial, as long as the central bank persists in cutting interest rates.
—Jeff Kilburg, CNBC, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for immaterial
Adjective
-
Aloka was found by Bhikkhu Pannakara, vice president of the center and spiritual leader of the walk, during a peace walk in India, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Jan. 2026
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When the music dissolves into an ethereal, ambient soundscape and a psychedelic, spiritual journey, that’s where finding the right amount of energy, aggression, violence, and grief, to support the story and to explain things that the dialog couldn’t, was the most challenging part.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Sure, pundits and Twitter philosophers love to portray bowl games as irrelevant relics of the past that nobody cares about anymore.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
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The characters are lying, to themselves and to each other, but the role of the audience in believing or not believing their lies is totally irrelevant.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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In fact, magical life has the potential to be even more radically incorporeal than our own.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
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Indeed, in stark contrast to the incorporeal nature of a digital image, each of Winant’s photographs is, in a sense, a discrete body: a fallible material entity that boasts a hidden physical history and that will compositionally deteriorate over time.—
Jessica Simmons-Reid,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
Adjective
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The real story is Latour’s encounter with the territory—transfigured, by Cather’s prose, into a metaphysical battleground and a sphinxlike witness.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Sirāt‘s central themes are deeply rooted in both metaphysical allegory and contemporary societal critique.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
-
In fact, effectively invisible, dark matter can only be inferred due to its interaction with gravity and the effect this has on light and conventional matter.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
5 Jan. 2026
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The best officials are invisible.—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Set in Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s, Stranger Things starts with a true-crime mystery that quickly turns supernatural.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
7 Jan. 2026
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An epic with supernatural and epigenetic overtones, this debut novel looks like a feast of a story.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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 13 Jan. 2026.
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