irrelevant
Americanadjective
-
not relevant; not applicable or pertinent.
His lectures often stray to interesting but irrelevant subjects.
-
Law. (of evidence) having no probative value upon any issue in the case.
adjective
Pronunciation
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
- irrelevance noun
- irrelevantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of irrelevant
First recorded in 1780–90
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.
A quarter of past voters also see the party as "irrelevant", according to a poll released by Angus Reid earlier this week, and 40% say its best days are behind it.
From BBC
And important science does not become irrelevant on the scale of years.
From Science Daily
The truth about this contest is if it wasn't a World Cup year the entire thing would be largely irrelevant, but it's deeply relevant because Scotland are on the clock now.
From BBC
This was a sport that everyone loved to pick on for being increasingly irrelevant, and now we’re arguing about a ridiculous non-event before the schedule has started.
The country has, in particular, used the sort of bullet-based systems for short distances that were long thought to have been rendered irrelevant by missile defense.
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.
