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
Portofiro and the baroque universe surrounding it—communists on-world, techno-fascists offplanet, and all manner of augmentoids and spooks in the immaterial planes between—can make for a dizzying read.
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Alex James Kane,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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.
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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
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Alex James Kane,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for immaterial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for immaterial
Adjective
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The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement cannot sue tech giant Cisco over allegations of aiding the Chinese government’s surveillance and torture of the group.
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The 1970s were thick with New Age spiritual fads and movements, from the benign (crystals) to the unspeakably toxic and cultic (Jonestown).
Adjective
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To me that’s irrelevant in terms of this storytelling.
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Whether the governmental entity later does anything with the complaint (here, the Board did not) is irrelevant.
Adjective
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Followers of the Abrahamic religions are supposed to treat God as immaterial and incorporeal, yet these early Yahweh worshippers imagined him as fully embodied.
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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.
Adjective
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In both the real and metaphysical locations of the show, the backgrounds are all painted by hand, something which was pointed out took up a lot of time due to the number of paintings in the show and due to the number of montages.
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In the 18th century Samuel Johnson coined the term metaphysical poets to criticize Donne, John Cleveland, and Abraham Cowley.
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.
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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.
Adjective
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But the things that actually blow up a deal are invisible.
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Man, to see that Curaçao player — in a moment that’s quite important to him, that is earned over so many years of effort — give a slight nod to the invisible man, that warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.
Adjective
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The Wrong Girls may feature giant squids, Danish hitmen, talking cats, and supernatural abilities, but the emotional story and stakes are pure memoir.
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Not in a supernatural sense, but rather being haunted by a presence, or a lack thereof.
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.
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In accounting, intangible assets are nonphysical possessions including such things as brands and intellectual property, software, mineral rights ‒ and contracts.
Cite this Entry
“Immaterial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/immaterial. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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