Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

irreal

/ɪˈɹiːəl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.01 in modern English

Syllables: ir-re-al
IPA: /ɪˈɹiːəl/

6

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Synonym of intangible, immaterial, not composed of things, having no concrete existence.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: preternatural, supernatural, ethereal, celestial"
"'Irreal' objects draw on our previous sensual experience but have never existed; they are created through the spontaneous intentional operations of the imagination."
"It is a shift to the ego conceived as irreal, as non-worldly."
"The irreal spatiality of school dining rooms, including such things as décor, furnishings, modes of ordering, manner of queuing, ambience, 'feel', can also, as we have seen, actively limit these governmental ambitions."
"It is impossible to directly access the imaginations of others, to know precisely if and how an imagined 'irreal' future is felt by an individual or shared by a 'collective', or to know if one has shared it oneself."

Etymology

From Latin irrealis, from in- (“un-: not”) + reālis (“real, material, tangible, composed of physical things”), from res (“thing”) + -ālis (“-al: forming adjectives”). Doublet of irrealis.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: irrealis

Inflected Forms

more irreal (comparative) most irreal (superlative)

Derived Forms

irrealism

Frequently Paired Words

irreality unreality unreal paranormal

Synonyms

preternatural supernatural ethereal celestial intangible immaterial not composed of things having no concrete existence

Questions

How do you pronounce irreal?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɪˈɹiːəl/.
What does irreal mean?: Synonym of intangible, immaterial, not composed of things, having no concrete existence.
Where does irreal come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce irreal

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “irreal”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɪˈɹiːəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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