1
as in absurd
conceived or made without regard for reason or reality
an unreal claim that is distant from the slightest hint of truth
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mythic
not real and existing only in the imagination
the unreal world of TV sitcoms
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unreal
The pressure to succeed is completely overwhelming, and the constant comparison to something that is unreal can become too much for anyone.
—
Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025
Fielder showed an exacting sense of how grotesquely unreal reality shows could get, as well as a deep awareness of how the sausage gets made.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Meeting your life-long love as a child at church may seem unreal.
—India Espy-Jones, Essence, 28 Apr. 2025
Spectators and commentators alike were taken aback as the incident unfolded due to the unreal farmer's tan of Phillips.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreal
Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025
Fielder showed an exacting sense of how grotesquely unreal reality shows could get, as well as a deep awareness of how the sausage gets made.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Meeting your life-long love as a child at church may seem unreal.
—India Espy-Jones, Essence, 28 Apr. 2025
Spectators and commentators alike were taken aback as the incident unfolded due to the unreal farmer's tan of Phillips.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreal
Adjective
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Read it because existence is absurd, and laughter might be the most intelligent response available.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
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One thing that’s been a challenge to satirists in the last 10 years is that reality has become so absurd, with the dumbest possible things happening every day, that there doesn’t always seem to be another level for satire to go to.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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Joining me is my Staten Island brother, Pete Davidson, who unveils a darker, dramatic side as his character navigates a bizarre group of residents in an old age home.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
29 May 2025
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Part of that stems from fewer bizarre storytelling choices (good!), and part of it is a byproduct of an overly cautious attitude toward character development (bad).—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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The Scheme To carry out the fraud scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators created fictitious employers and lists of alleged employees—those lists were generated using personally identifiable information (PII) gleaned from thousands of identity theft victims.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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When Noah Wyle reunited with ER producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill to make HBO Max’s The Pitt, the plan was to offer a realistic portrayal of healthcare today through the lens of harried pros working in a fictitious Pittsburgh hospital.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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To write off the Israeli leader would be foolish, especially with new elections not required until late 2026.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
22 May 2025
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His writing is so human—his people are foolish in such human ways.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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Draw an imaginary line from the magnitude 2.3 star Merak, which forms the outer base of the 'bowl', through Dubhe, the star positioned as the 'pouring tip' of the asterism.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
20 May 2025
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The mastermind behind covert action, Frank Wisner, never paused to consider that his cure for defeating an imaginary worldwide communist conspiracy was worse than the disease.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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Amanda learned in like 10 seconds, which is insane.—
Scott Roxborough,
The Hollywood Reporter,
24 Mar. 2025
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The emu egg—a two pound, eight-inch ovoid with a sultry teal shell gently speckled in pale green—seemed like just the right absurdist final flourish for an already insane endeavor.—
Helen Rosner,
The New Yorker,
23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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What makes the book so extraordinary is that is functions as a de facto catalogue for a mythical Rolex museum, chock full of images of timepieces from every Rolex era, dating to 1908, three years after the brand was founded.—
Victoria Gomelsky,
Robb Report,
26 May 2025
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The mythical creature is said to be the origin of the first Vietnamese people.—
Jenna Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Set on the fictional New England island of New Penzance in the 1960s, Sam (Jared Gilman), an emotionally disturbed orphan, and Suzy (Kara Hayward), a sophisticated, yet troubled girl in the vein of Margot Tenenbaum, long to grow up and get away from the chaos that surrounds them.—
Shannon Carlin,
Time,
30 May 2025
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Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, self-driving cars — these were all fictional concepts that have since crossed the threshold from imagination to innovation.—
Dete Meserve,
Space.com,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreal. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
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