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
As the sun begins to set, the experience becomes increasingly surreal.
—
Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2026
From here, his story veers into increasingly surreal territory.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026
What that means is barely explained in the show’s opening arc, which is more straightforwardly rendered than the increasingly surreal final episodes, yet already a strange work rife with symbolism and abstract visual storytelling.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 June 2026
Owner Mayra Serna, 38, said having a store in Naperville feels surreal after having spent her teenage years growing up in Wheaton and wandering around downtown with her friends for fun.
—Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2026
From here, his story veers into increasingly surreal territory.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026
What that means is barely explained in the show’s opening arc, which is more straightforwardly rendered than the increasingly surreal final episodes, yet already a strange work rife with symbolism and abstract visual storytelling.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 June 2026
Owner Mayra Serna, 38, said having a store in Naperville feels surreal after having spent her teenage years growing up in Wheaton and wandering around downtown with her friends for fun.
—Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surreal
Adjective
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Bill stutters an affirmative response that captures every man who has held out irrational hope that a woman will return to him.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
16 June 2026
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The book is Labarge’s attempt to tell the story of what happened to her and her family without sanitizing what happened, which requires her (and the reader) to sit with thoughts that are sometimes incoherent and irrational.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
Adjective
-
There’s been a weird weather quirk surrounding the national soccer teams that have made base camps in the Kansas City area.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
15 June 2026
-
When the series went back to New York, things got weird.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
Adjective
-
Truth is stranger than fiction.—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
17 June 2026
-
As Photay, Shornstein—a master synthesist and producer—flits between atmospheric house, dubby breakbeat workouts, and chirping electro funk, building his songs’ arrangements into strange, angular shapes.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
16 June 2026
Adjective
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The Stars may be moving from Dallas to Plano, but under no reasonable, or unreasonable, scenario will this move lead to their departure from Texas.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 June 2026
-
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
Adjective
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Soon my entire feed was pugs and poodles and beagles and portmanteau blends with absurd names like golden doodle and cavapoo.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Produced by Heavy Lifting Productions in association with 3 Arts Entertainment, Knighted follows a missing person’s case that spirals into an absurd documentary-style exploration of the sinister secrets lurking beneath the enchanting pageantry of a local medieval dinner theatre.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
11 June 2026
Adjective
-
The lobby is filled with well-to-do patrons, and seeing children in tow is not unusual.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 June 2026
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In the case of the female individual, the authors noted an unusual break at the base of the cranium that likely occurred near the time of death.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
11 June 2026
Adjective
-
Many feminist Marxists believed, in the ’70s, that the liberation of sexuality would change the way that all people love one another and inhabit their bodies, such that the very categories of cissexual society shall become odd and meaningless.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
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But that doesn't mean the data is unimportant or meaningless, especially when HRV is considered alongside other health information such as sleep quality, resting heart rate, activity levels, recovery patterns or stress metrics.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Adjective
-
Bainbridge knew about secrets and unreasoning shame.—
Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
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 17 Jun. 2026.
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