surrealism

[ suh-ree-uh-liz-uhm ]

/ səˈri əˌlɪz əm /

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noun (sometimes initial capital letter)

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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Origin of surrealism

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

OTHER WORDS FROM surrealism

sur·re·al·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use surrealism in a sentence

Di Bello described the color-splashed works as “abstract expressionism” with “surrealist” methods.
The Tiniest Jackson Pollock|Justin Jones|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Last year he purchased three paintings by the Mexican surrealist Meme Artist at the Galeria Libertad in Querétaro.
Trading Dime Bags for Salvador Dali|Jason McGahan|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By the time that you see them, they're bloated into surrealist Arcimboldo paintings, into soft constructions of rotten fruit.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The best way to pay tribute to the surrealist artist: get a tattoo of his work.
Hollywood’s Sci-Fi Artist H.R. Giger Dead at 74|Justin Jones|May 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Many of your stories are very visual, and readers come away with a surrealist image.
How I Write: Manuel Gonzales|Noah Charney|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was a surrealist flash of the jaygee's face before he clipped him into the back of the square little truck.
The Syndic|C.M. Kornbluth
The screen was a surrealist painting, come alive, solid and real.
Shock Treatment|Stanley Mullen
Somebody had turned on the electric fans, and long streams of flimsy fabric were blowing about like a surrealist maypole dance.
Null-ABC|Henry Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire

British Dictionary definitions for surrealism

surrealism

/ (səˈrɪəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

(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

Derived forms of surrealism

surrealist, noun, adjectivesurrealistic, adjectivesurrealistically, adverb

Word Origin for surrealism

C20: from French surréalisme, from sur- 1 + réalisme realism

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

Cultural definitions for surrealism

surrealism

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.