unreal
adjective
un·re·al
ˌən-ˈrē(-ə)l 
: lacking in reality, substance, or genuineness : artificial, illusory
also
: incredible, fantastic
Synonyms
Examples of unreal in a Sentence
The town seemed as unreal as a movie set.
The fashion model looked unreal, like a doll.
I think it's unreal that he survived the accident.
Recent Examples on the Web
Every Gosling performance — whether the Plasticine eunuch Ken in Barbie or the junkie schoolteacher in Half Nelson, a psychotic getaway man in Drive or a jazz pianist in La La Land — seems unreal, a kind of stunt.
—
Armond White, National Review, 3 May 2024
Katy Perry has pulled off some pretty unreal looks at past Met Galas but nothing compares to this year: The images that surfaced of Perry on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art are actually not real.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Visitations occur because those who mourn occupy an unreal space; loss transcends reality or else collapses that once-stable sense of self, space and time.
—Jenny Boully, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024
The stress of coping with so many unreal diseases has a way of creating real ones.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Clark flirted with a triple-double, adding 7 rebounds and 12 assists to her unreal 41 points, including nine 3-pointers.
—Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
And since speculating about what Beyoncé could do next is sort of an act of fiction unto itself, several writers imagined their own Beyoncé interviews — quotes that never happened to make the unreal real.
—Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024
My fear is that this peculiar arrangement—a never-ending reel of floating, disembodied dissent with vague messaging—will become an end unto itself, divorced from the world offline, an unreal expression of perpetual, slightly out-of-focus rage.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
The performance may be unreal, but the Taycan GT is a reality.
—Tim Stevens, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
Armond White, National Review, 3 May 2024
Katy Perry has pulled off some pretty unreal looks at past Met Galas but nothing compares to this year: The images that surfaced of Perry on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art are actually not real.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Visitations occur because those who mourn occupy an unreal space; loss transcends reality or else collapses that once-stable sense of self, space and time.
—Jenny Boully, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024
The stress of coping with so many unreal diseases has a way of creating real ones.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Clark flirted with a triple-double, adding 7 rebounds and 12 assists to her unreal 41 points, including nine 3-pointers.
—Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
And since speculating about what Beyoncé could do next is sort of an act of fiction unto itself, several writers imagined their own Beyoncé interviews — quotes that never happened to make the unreal real.
—Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024
My fear is that this peculiar arrangement—a never-ending reel of floating, disembodied dissent with vague messaging—will become an end unto itself, divorced from the world offline, an unreal expression of perpetual, slightly out-of-focus rage.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
The performance may be unreal, but the Taycan GT is a reality.
—Tim Stevens, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unreal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near unreal
Cite this Entry
“Unreal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unreal. Accessed 14 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unreal
adjective
un·re·al
ˌən-ˈrē(-ə)l
-ˈri(-ə)l,
ˈən-
1
: not real, actual, or genuine : illusory
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