unreal
Americanadjective
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not real or actual.
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imaginary; fanciful; illusory; delusory; fantastic.
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lacking in truth; not genuine; false; artificial.
unreal propaganda serving as news.
adjective
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imaginary or fanciful or seemingly so
an unreal situation
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having no actual existence or substance
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insincere or artificial
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unreal
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.
It still feels unreal to Small that her album generates revenue.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
“I love to find products that are unreal and need someone with vision or guts to be able to bring it to market,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Ejae said the reception of the animation and its music has felt unreal.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
Those glimpses of humanity had a way of rendering the mercenary atmosphere in the tent city incredibly disorienting—almost unreal.
From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026
Though music’s flirtation with surrealism was short-lived - how can such an unreal art form ever really have had any relationship with surrealism? - one controversial aspect of Parade’s score had some coincidental forward momentum.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
