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Etymology and origin of the English word surreal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1937 Burlington Magazine
Ultimate origin
French surréalisme

Pronunciation

  • /səˈɹiː(.ə)l/, /syːˈɹiː(.ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from surrealism or surrealist.[2][3][4][5][6] The OED suggests that it may first have been coined in French, as French surréel.[2] Surrealism is surréalisme, from sur- (“beyond”) and réalisme (“realism”);[3][2] according to Etymonline the French word was coined about 1917 by Guillaume Apollinaire and taken up by André Breton for the movement he launched in 1924.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the qualities of surrealist art; bizarre and dreamlike: 1937, in the Burlington Magazine,[2][6] 1936 in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a term of art criticism, for what recalled the paintings and writing of the surrealists,[2][3] and soon came to be used of anything strangely unreal or dreamlike, especially a real situation that seems irrational or fantastic.[6][7] The noun use the surreal, the atmosphere or qualities that surrealism evokes, is recorded in Collins.[7] The derivatives surreality and surreally date from the mid 20th century.[5]

Timeline

  • 1936 – in Etymonline, bizarre and dreamlike.[3]
  • 1937 – having the qualities of surrealist art.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Strange, unreal or dreamlike in a way that is hard to believe: Meeting her childhood idol at the bus stop felt surreal.[6][7][2]
  2. Suggestive of surrealism in art or literature.[7][2]

Noun

  1. the surreal: the atmosphere or qualities evoked by surrealism.[7]

Word family

  • surreally
  • surreality
  • surrealistic
  • surrealism

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Surreal.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/surreal. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·