as in irrational
very strange or unusual; having the quality of a dream
a surreal atmosphere at the festival The whole situation was completely surreal.
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Recent Examples of surreal
Backrooms, the surreal horror thriller from YouTube director Kane Parsons, shocked Hollywood in its opening weekend by overperforming at the box office on its way to an $81 million domestic take in its opening frame.
—
Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 5 June 2026
House experiments with tons of surreal techniques that make the film feel like a bizarre dream — there are wacky transitions, stylized backdrops, bursts of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, wild color filters, jarring soundtrack choices, and dizzying camera movements.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
The roughly $160,000 compensation package, including salary and bonus, felt surreal.
—Mike Winters
mickey Todiwala, CNBC, 4 June 2026
To see his Knicks in MSG for the Finals will be surreal.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 5 June 2026
House experiments with tons of surreal techniques that make the film feel like a bizarre dream — there are wacky transitions, stylized backdrops, bursts of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, wild color filters, jarring soundtrack choices, and dizzying camera movements.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
The roughly $160,000 compensation package, including salary and bonus, felt surreal.
—Mike Winters
mickey Todiwala, CNBC, 4 June 2026
To see his Knicks in MSG for the Finals will be surreal.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surreal
Adjective
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Because oceanfront homes satisfy both sides of the luxury equation—the rational and the irrational.—
Spencer Elliott,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
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The American origin story is rooted in the notion that George III was its vanquished villain, an irrational tyrant who oppressed the American colonists.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Teamwork, Facebook threads, and something just weird enough to work.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 June 2026
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The Bears in Indiana (not to mention playing under a dome) would be so weird.—
Jim Reineking,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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The issue at hand – renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA – has created strange political bedfellows this year on Capitol Hill, miring lawmakers in a debate pitting privacy against safety while consuming much of Congress' election-year time.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
10 June 2026
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Brunson answered with one of the strangest makes of his postseason.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
9 June 2026
Adjective
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However, investing in public institutions and infrastructure is a costly endeavor that can seem unreasonable when local officials are struggling to balance budgets without increasing tax burdens.—
Aneri Pattani,
USA Today,
6 June 2026
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Nineteen recent clinical trials on kratom leaf document no evidence of severe addiction or significant or unreasonable adverse effects.—
Tara Molina,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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There is always the possibility that something absurd might occur — the equivalent of Neymar’s 2017 move to Paris Saint-Germain, for instance — but that’s extremely unlikely.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
27 May 2026
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Ironically, the fears of two Republicans advancing were driven by Democratic data vendor Paul Mitchell, who built a prediction machine using absurd inputs like betting odds and polls that cannot account for things like rape allegations.—
Matt Fleming,
Oc Register,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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Since arriving at the zoo, the buffalo has attracted large crowds and sparked debate over its unusual nickname.—
Michael Sinkewicz,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2026
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What’s unusual is to see these elements presented so grandly on a stage as big as The Bushnell’s and presented in a manner that doesn’t compromise a dark tale of anger, revenge, dangerous romance, desperation and survival.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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Yes, that’s a somewhat meaningless place to be at this time of year.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
8 June 2026
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That right becomes meaningless if the ballot language advocates and misleads, rather than objectively explains.—
Jamie Cole,
Sun Sentinel,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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Bainbridge knew about secrets and unreasoning shame.—
Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Let sound political prescience but take the place of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done.—
Frederick Douglass,
The Atlantic,
16 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Surreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surreal. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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