irrelevance
AmericanEtymology
Origin of irrelevance
1840–50; ir- 2 + relevance ( def. ); see relevant ( def. )
Explanation
Irrelevance represents what is NOT at all important to what’s going on right now. Anything that distracts you from this sentence is clearly an example of irrelevance. The Latin root word for irrelevance is relevare, which means “raising up.” The prefix ir- means “not,” therefore if a situation does not relate to or raise your interest, it’s irrelevant. In a courtroom, lawyers who lose sight of their case argue about irrelevances, and your sister speaks with irrelevance when she wakes you up to talk about rainbows. It’s always best to focus on important things, but irrelevance now and then won’t kill you.
Vocabulary lists containing irrelevance
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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Grendel
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The Remains of the Day
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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.
Every college football coach in the country spent last season with their jaws on the floor as they watched Indiana go from spectacular irrelevance to undefeated dominance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Another indicator of the document’s irrelevance is that it was issued by the Board of Peace, an organization that has no authority or power to do anything.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Europe risks "total technological irrelevance" if it fails to develop sovereign capabilities, the head of Canadian AI startup Cohere warned Thursday on the sidelines of the Vivatech trade fair in Paris.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Boatwright would be wise to heed this history and either take Chipotle into new frontiers or prepare for its inevitable irrelevance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
In insisting these were the only tools required Galileo was dismissing Aristotelian logic as an irrelevance.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
