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

The light on Mag is framed like a melodramatic diva’s spotlight, and the close-ups of Delano’s electric purple lip gloss and severe makeup heighten the sequence’s sense of surrealism.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

Perhaps the most avant-garde filmmaker ever to make it big in Hollywood, David Lynch brought surrealism to the big screen in films including Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025

This painting is a "very personal" image, in which Kahlo "merges folkloric motifs from Mexican culture with European surrealism," Anna Di Stasi, head of Latin American art at Sotheby's, told AFP.

From Barron's • Nov. 21, 2025

While the view of surrealism may be hazy at the Whitney, the lasting impact of the ’60s has never been clearer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

“Pop surrealism is what the art people keep calling it.”

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman