irrelevant

[ih-rel-uh-vuhnt]

adjective

1. not relevant; not applicable or pertinent.

   His lectures often stray to interesting but irrelevant subjects.

2. Law.,  (of evidence) having no probative value upon any issue in the case.

irrelevant

/ ɪˈrɛləvənt /

adjective

1. not relating or pertinent to the matter at hand; not important

Pronunciation Note

The pronunciation of irrelevant , as , as if spelled irrevelant, is the result of metathesis, the transposition of two sounds, in this case, the and the . Relevant, the base word, is occasionally subject to the same process. Analogy with words like prevalent and equivalent may play a role. A similar reordering of the and consonant sounds, althought not a strict one-to-one metathesis, can be heard for Calvary when pronounced . Here the transposition is reinforced by the existence of the familiar word cavalry.

Other Word Forms

• irrelevantly adverb
• irrelevance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of irrelevant¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Emma Bush, the managing director of AA's driving school, said the need to know how to drive a manual car is becoming "irrelevant to many".

From BBC

As she gathered inmate stories, she made it a point to emphasize that their charges were irrelevant to her.

From Los Angeles Times

Sure, the Republican Party still had a large and resentful voter base that refused to die off or shut up, but its demographic was aging and increasingly irrelevant, or so it seemed.

From Salon

Lively's team applied to prevent Baldoni obtaining the messages, arguing they were irrelevant.

From BBC

But whether the targeting succeeded is irrelevant to Gulf leaders pondering the effectiveness of decades-old security arrangements with the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• extraneous 
• immaterial 
• inappropriate 
• inconsequential 
• insignificant 
• pointless 
• trivial 
• unimportant 
• unnecessary 
• unrelated