Meanings
nounsurrealism (countable and uncountable, plural surrealisms)
plural surrealisms
- countableuncountableartAn artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious.
- countableinformaluncountableartArt with a surreal aesthetic or narrative, regardless of whether or not it is linked to the surrealist movement.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Italic*super
- Latinsuper
- Latinsuper-
- Old Frenchsur-
- Frenchsur-
- Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁ís
- Proto-Italic*reis
- Classical Latinrēs
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Late Latinreālis
- Old Frenchreel
- Middle Frenchreal
- Frenchréel
- Frenchréalisme
- Frenchsurréalisme
- Englishsurrealism
Borrowed from French surréalisme. By surface analysis, sur- + realism or surreal + -ism.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سُرْيَالِيَّة
- سُرْيَالِيَّة (suryāliyya)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Bengali পরাবাস্তববাদ
- পরাবাস্তববাদ (porabastobbad)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Bulgarian сюрреали́зъм
- сюрреали́зъм (sjurrealízăm)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Catalan surrealisme
- surrealismeartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Chinese Mandarin 超現實主義 /超现实主义
- 超現實主義 /超现实主义 (chāoxiànshízhǔyì)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Czech surrealismus
- surrealismusartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Danish surrealismen
- surrealismenartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Dutch Surrealisme
- Surrealismeartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Esperanto superrealismo
- superrealismoartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Estonian sürrealism
- sürrealismartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Finnish surrealismi
- surrealismiartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
French surréalisme
- surréalismeartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
German Surrealismus
- Surrealismusartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Greek υπερρεαλισμός
- υπερρεαλισμός (yperrealismós)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Hebrew הסוריאליזם
- הסוריאליזםartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Indonesian surealisme
- surealismeartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Irish osréalachas
- osréalachasartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Italian surrealismo
- surrealismoartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Japanese シュルレアリスム
- シュルレアリスム (shururearisumu)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Korean 서리얼리즘
- 서리얼리즘 (seorieollijeum)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Māori toi pohewa
- toi pohewaartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Norwegian surrealisme
- surrealismeartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Persian فراواقعگرایی
- فراواقعگرایی (farâ-vâqe'-garâyi)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Polish surrealizm
- surrealizmartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Portuguese surrealismo
- surrealismoartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Romanian suprarealism
- suprarealismartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Russian сюрреали́зм
- сюрреали́зм (sjurrealízm)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Scottish Gaelic os-fhìreachas
- os-fhìreachasartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Slovak surrealizmus
- surrealizmusartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Spanish surrealismo
- surrealismoartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Swedish surrealism
- surrealismartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Tagalog pagkamakakubtunay
- pagkamakakubtunayartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Tamil அடிமன வெளிப்பாட்டியம்
- அடிமன வெளிப்பாட்டியம் (aṭimaṉa veḷippāṭṭiyam)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Thai ลัทธิเหนือจริง, เซอร์เรียลลิซึม
- ลัทธิเหนือจริงartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
- เซอร์เรียลลิซึมartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Turkish sürrealizm, gerçeküstücülük
- sürrealizmartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
- gerçeküstücülükartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa siêu thực, nghệ thuật siêu thực
- chủ nghĩa siêu thựcartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
- nghệ thuật siêu thựcartistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Yiddish סוררעאַליזמ
- סוררעאַליזמ (surrealizm)artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Cite this entry
APA
surrealism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surrealism
MLA
“surrealism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surrealism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surrealism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surrealism.
Source: surrealism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.