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 Whether rooted in folklore, spiritual traditions, or the surreal, the ghostly often becomes another way of telling the truth. — Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026 This was some surreal stuff and that was obvious when Mayfield was asked questions about his lead blocking on one play. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026 The first-person psychological horror game combines surreal imagery with a nonlinear narrative exploring responsibility, denial and the consequences of unchecked power. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2026 Perhaps the most surreal deviation from the mainline DCU is writer Deniz Camp and artist Javier Rodriguez’s Absolute Martian Manhunter. — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 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
  • Because the entire system is rewarded by doing more, investments in prevention are financially irrational.
    — Paul Markovich, STAT, 2 Nov. 2026
  • There’s nothing irrational about voters demanding more from a state where a third of the work force is unemployed and ranks highest in the World Bank inequality index.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • This is a deeply weird album, somehow both bombastic and elusive.
    — Hannah Jocelyn, Pitchfork, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Texas’ backhanded bid to cheat by squishing Democratic-leaning voters into weird districts?
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of weird
Adjective
  • Talk about strange beginnings at Friday’s City Section Division I football playoff opener between Sun Valley Poly and host Marshall.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • And having one of those is as strange and terrifying as anything else in the universe.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • That triggers First Amendment protection, and that means there cannot be viewpoint discrimination or unreasonable restrictions that are inconsistent with the speech activities imposed on the journalists.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Frimpong concluded that plaintiffs were likely to prove the practice violated the 4th Amendment’s protection against unreasonable seizures and the 5th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • At the start of this election cycle, the notion that Democrats would seriously compete in such deep-red bastions as Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas would have seemed absurd.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026
  • For the second of two F--- Cancer gigs, Reynoso has racked up a gloriously absurd 13 local bands on one madcap, rapid-fire club bill, where each will swarm the stage rig to plug in and play 10-minute sets before giving way to the next act.
    — Aaron Davis, Sacbee.com, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • The Wiles interviews stuck out for their candor, which is unusual for a sitting White House chief of staff.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Claude can also flag unusual transactions, duplicate charges, unexpected fees and bills that have gradually increased.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Each seemingly meaningless twitch signals a bid worth between $50,000 and $100,000, depending on the auctioneer’s ask.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Employees were reportedly running AI agents on meaningless tasks to inflate their token count and climb an unofficial internal AI leaderboard called Kirorank.
    — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 28 Oct. 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 7 Nov. 2026.

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