surrealism

American  

[suh-ree-uh-liz-uhm] / səˈri əˌlɪz əm /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc.

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surrealism British  

/ səˈrɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a movement in art and literature in the 1920s, which developed esp from dada, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements

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surrealism Cultural  

1. A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early twentieth century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control. Salvador Dali was an influential surrealist painter; Jean Cocteau was a master of surrealist film.

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Other Word Forms

• surrealist
  noun
• surrealistic
  adjective
• surrealistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of surrealism

From the French word surréalisme, dating back to 1920–25. See sur- ¹, realism

Explanation

Surrealism is a wild painting and writing style that creates images that might come from dreams, like a landscape with gold pocket-watches bending, or an eyeball with clouds inside. Salvador Dali is one of surrealism's most famous painters. The surrealism movement attracted writers and painters between World War I and World War II. The artists wanted to get beyond reason and logic. Instead, they looked to dreams and the power of the unconscious mind, which is weird, odd, bizarre, illogical, and fantastic. In surrealism, anything can happen—it’s the opposite of realistic art. We recognize the objects of surrealism, but they’re not following the rules of our world.

Example Sentences

Born in 1917 to a conservative Catholic family in Lancashire, England, Carrington rebelled early, was sent to Florence to study art, and later encountered Surrealism in Paris.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025

"To handle a genuine rediscovery of a work by someone who is easily one of the most famous artists in the world and the godfather of Surrealism is a real honour."

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025

There was recently a show at the Pompidou Center, a really exhaustive retrospective of Surrealism.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025

Surrealism is a calling card in Joel and Ethan Coen’s films, although in the main it is atmospheric as opposed to episodic.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2023

Surrealism and Cubism are touchstones here and figurative painting dominates.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2023