surreal

adjective

Definition of surrealnext
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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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 surreal Invoked in the above passage is a surreal merger of scales, big and small. — Artforum, 28 Sep. 2026 What the movie thrives on is the farcical and, all too often, horrendous reach of human error; surreal episodes are not cooked up but happened upon or stumbled over. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026 Talk about another surreal moment in a career of surreal moments. — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2026 The evening was like a surreal speed dating event, with Firstman being paraded from film executive to film executive. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 25 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for surreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surreal
  1. irrational
  2. weird
  3. strange
  4. unreasonable
  5. absurd
  6. unusual
  7. meaningless
  8. unreasoning
Adjective
  • Between restructuring waves, automation fears and flattening hierarchies, that concern isn’t always irrational.
    — Jonathan H. Westover, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The fact, in other words, that there often isn’t a right answer or a clear victor—and that rational people are subject to irrational forces within and above them.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • Read Cep’s Profile of Kingsolver » Our editors and critics choose the most captivating, notable, brilliant, surprising, absorbing, weird, thought-provoking, and talked-about books.
    — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Why is this weird, scammy product now the biggest monster in the room?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of weird
Adjective
  • Serena tells him his former boss Elliott Wyatt recommended him highly, which is strange given his former reticence.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Neither does the strange quiet when the trip home begins with one fewer passenger.
    — Robert Duffer, AJC.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • Then there’s the Tesseract, which takes the scooter formula and crams it with an almost unreasonable amount of technology.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 3 Oct. 2026
  • But several individually reasonable events, viewed together and over time, can tell an unreasonable story.
    — Shahen Minasyan, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • Ambitious mukbang-ers eager to prove their gastronomic stamina descended on Red Lobster locations across the country to consume absurd quantities of shrimp.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • When things get too absurd or heavy, a one liner pops in and Olesen knows how to do the set up, and then, the mic drop.
    — Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • The team now points to interactions between manganese and ytterbium as a possible source of the unusual Hall response.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The unusual diplomatic rebuke underscored the mistrust between the two countries.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Functional performance has always been counted in throughput, cost per transaction and cycle time, and those measures become close to meaningless once the routine work runs itself.
    — Charisma Glassman, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • If all of City’s results are to be scrapped this season, next season, or in four seasons to come, then whatever happens in the meantime is somewhat meaningless.
    — Ben Church, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of meaningless
Adjective
  • But in each event—in the living act, the undoubted deed—there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
  • Roosevelt surely understood that nameless, unreasoning, unjustified fear cannot be eradicated.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 9 June 2026
Definition of unreasoning

Browse Nearby Words

surprisingly
surreal
surreality
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Cite this Entry

“Surreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surreal. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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