hyperreality

British

/ ˌhaɪpərɪˈælɪtɪ /

noun

an image or simulation, or an aggregate of images and simulations, that either distorts the reality it purports to depict or does not in fact depict anything with a real existence at all, but which nonetheless comes to constitute reality

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

What she discovered, with close friends and heartbroken strangers, was a sort of hyperreality.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

The setting and its accoutrements couldn’t be more more richly luxurious, but Kravitz presents this world with a sickening, unsettling hyperreality.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2024

The virtual world of the internet – with its own sets of cultural norms, language and memes – is the epitome of hyperreality.

From Salon • Jan. 17, 2024

Though medication reduced my symptoms, I didn’t stop believing my life was a hyperreality psychological experiment until I was finally ready to admit I have schizophrenia.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2023

Yes, there is a Dogme looseness in how she shoots, but there is always a tension between the rawness she gets to and a forensic hyperreality.

From The Guardian • Jun. 16, 2020

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023