as in illusion
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
a sci-fi author who seems to have preferred the unrealities of his own fiction to the realities of the world about him
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unreality
But as with its aww-shucks hero, there’s more to it than meets the eye; something much stranger lurks behind the slight Twilight Zone unreality of its very movie-ish Midwest.
—
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
All those books teaching parents how to take care of their children—the first year, the first eighteen months, the first five or ten years—none of them addresses this difficulty: for parents and for children, the border between reality and unreality is not always clearly marked.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2025
As the novel progresses, this sense of unreality sharpens.
—Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025
The initial blitzkrieg against USAID in January had a feel of unreality: the natural reaction was denial.
—Dylan Matthews, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreality
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
All those books teaching parents how to take care of their children—the first year, the first eighteen months, the first five or ten years—none of them addresses this difficulty: for parents and for children, the border between reality and unreality is not always clearly marked.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2025
As the novel progresses, this sense of unreality sharpens.
—Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025
The initial blitzkrieg against USAID in January had a feel of unreality: the natural reaction was denial.
—Dylan Matthews, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreality
Noun
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The entire spectacle is, of course, a line-of-sight illusion — all three objects extremely far from each other.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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And if anyone was naive enough to imagine the U.S.-led tournament in 2026 would be free of such political baggage, then surely the increasingly public proximity of the Trump-Infantino relationship has dispelled those illusions.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
Noun
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The Old Guard 2 — a sequel to the Charlize Theron fantasy superhero hit from 2020 — arrives on Netflix this week.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
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Set in a fantasy version of early 1900s Japan, the series focuses on the adventures Tanjiro Kamado, an ordinary boy whose peaceful life in the mountains is disrupted when demons murder his family.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
28 June 2025
Noun
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Being from New York, it’s always been a dream of mine to play professionally here.—
Jenn Nelson,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
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There are still a handful of dream sequences and surreal interludes that seem to want to underscore the show’s deep psychological curiosity, and its unwillingness to be an easy watch.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
26 June 2025
Noun
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From $635 per night. La Réserve feels a bit like a daydream manifested.—
Madeline Weinfield,
Architectural Digest,
3 June 2025
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Zooey Deschanel is living in a Screen Actors Guild Awards daydream.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
People.com,
6 May 2025
Noun
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Among these, schizophrenia, a complex mental health condition marked by hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking, stands out.—
William A. Haseltine,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
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Ultimately, there may be no way for Israel to escape its smart-bomb delusion—or another quagmire in the Middle East.—
Robert A. Pape,
Foreign Affairs,
17 June 2025
Noun
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Just to the south, there is a vision for a regional transportation center, plus apartments on the site of the decaying One Talcott Plaza.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
29 June 2025
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Although Disney could have made Underworld, as well as Lucas' vision of the Sequel Trilogy, time has shown us the company took a different path with the franchise.—
Daryl Baxter,
Space.com,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unreality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreality. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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