Etymologically
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unreal

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Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈɹi.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- (“not”) + real,[2][3][4][5] with the adjective real.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Imaginary, illusory; not real: 1605, in S. Daniel's Certaine Small Poems.[2][6] Etymonline dates it to about 1600,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1595–1605.[5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) quoted Shakespeare's "Unreal mock'ry", from Macbeth, for the sense "unsubstantial".[7] By the 1660s, Etymonline notes, it also meant impractical or visionary.[3] From 1825 the unreal was used for that which is not real.[2] From 1837 the adjective meant artificial or not true to life, and also so strange as not to seem real.[2] Music theory briefly used it for a passing note (1838),[2] and grammar from 1882 for a condition that the speaker sees as not fulfilled.[2] In North American slang from 1965 it came to mean incredibly good or bad,[2][3] and slang dictionaries also record it from 1966 as a general term of disapproval: unbelievable, difficult or unpleasant.[8]

Timeline

  • 1605 – imaginary, illusory.[2]
  • 1825 – noun, the unreal, that which is not real.[2]
  • 1837 – artificial, not true to life; very strange.[2]
  • 1882 – grammar, of a condition not fulfilled.[2]
  • 1965 – slang, incredibly good or bad.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not real; imaginary or illusory, having no actual existence or substance.[9][6][2]
  2. So strange that it does not seem real: The whole week felt unreal.[2][9]
  3. Artificial or insincere; not true to life.[9][6][2]
  4. (informal) Incredible, amazing, extraordinarily good or bad.[4][2][8]
  5. (grammar) Of a condition or clause: expressing something that is not, or will not be, fulfilled.[2]

Noun

  1. the unreal: that which is not real.[2]

Word family

  • unreally
  • unrealize

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins