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
What’s been the most surreal moment so far?
—
Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 May 2026
To add imagery to match Lennon's conversation, Soderbergh used Meta's AI programs to create surreal graphics.
—ABC News, 18 May 2026
One especially striking image features the galaxy rising above a sea of clouds in La Palma, creating an almost surreal scene.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026
Following its world premiere at SXSW, Boots Riley wants to give his surreal arthouse sophomore feature a chance at the box office.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 May 2026
To add imagery to match Lennon's conversation, Soderbergh used Meta's AI programs to create surreal graphics.
—ABC News, 18 May 2026
One especially striking image features the galaxy rising above a sea of clouds in La Palma, creating an almost surreal scene.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026
Following its world premiere at SXSW, Boots Riley wants to give his surreal arthouse sophomore feature a chance at the box office.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for surreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surreal
Adjective
-
Institutional trading desks spend enormous amounts of time studying behavior, emotional responses and risk tolerance because markets constantly pressure people into making irrational decisions.—
Robert Daugherty,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
-
The bullish argument goes that earnings season went better than expected, so the rally isn’t irrational.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Tom always found something deeper, more creative, more thoughtful, weird, fun & unique.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
18 May 2026
-
So that’s weird for Kickstarter.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
They were considered to have strange physical afflictions or weak mental attitudes, and some people with endocrine diseases were even dismissed as ‘freaks’ and heckled in circuses or locked away in institutions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
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So yes, there was a kind of resistance, because the film and the script could seem strange, and some people wanted to normalize it, to fit it into a genre.—
Roberto Prieto,
Variety,
19 May 2026
Adjective
-
Sterling failed to live up to unreasonable expectations created by his huge contract, which quickly became a millstone.—
Liam Twomey,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
The construction strikes many locals as both unreasonable and unstoppable.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Unfortunately, in life, there are few greater certainties than eventual statistical regression to the mean; the Broncos are primed for it, after winning an absurd amount of one-score games.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
15 May 2026
-
The Daily Show making fun of two absurd AI start-ups designed by losers to cater to a loser clientele.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Sun forms a cazimi with Mercury in Taurus in your 3rd House of Communication, illuminating messages, conversations, errands, and daily decisions with unusual clarity.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2026
-
The unusual move would allow the administration to bypass a public bidding process, relying on a deal for engineering services already underway at the White House.—
Sarah Blaskey,
Washington Post,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Expansion would also likely bring about the need to abolish conference title games, which are increasingly meaningless and would be more so in, say, a world where the first- through fourth-place teams in every conference end up in the playoffs.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
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Alves de Oliveira argues that Lee is far from being another heritage brand reduced to meaningless licenses.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
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 21 May. 2026.
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