unreality

U1N1R1E1A1L1I1T1Y4

noun

Lack of reality or real existence.

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

noununreality (countable and uncountable, plural unrealities)

plural unrealities

  1. countableuncountableLack of reality or real existence.
  2. uncountableThe state of being unreal.

    Thus it was that I beheld, as never before, the awful unreality called evil. The equipollence of God brought to light another glorious proposition, — man’s perfectibility and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

    1906, Mary Baker Eddy, “Chapter VI — Science, Theology, Medicine”, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Science_and_Health_with_Key_to_the_Scriptures_(1906).djvu/126), Harper and Row, page 110
    1 more example

    Then, the Lord, for the sake of those involved in the Universal Vehicle, turned a second wheel of Dharma, even more wondrous and amazing, by proclaiming emptiness, starting from the fact of the unreality, productionlessness, ceaselessness, primordial peace, and natural liberation of all things.

    2014, Robert A.F. Thurman, Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence
  3. countableThat which has no reality or real existence; something unreal or imaginary
  4. countableuncountableUnpractical character; visionariness.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe quality possessed by something that is unreal

Opposite

nounthe state of being insubstantial or imaginary; not existing objectively or in fact

Similar
Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁ís
  10. Proto-Italic*reis
  11. Classical Latinrēs
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  14. Latinreālis
  15. Medieval Latinreālitā
  16. Frenchréalité
  17. Englishreality
  18. Englishunreality

From un- (“lack of, not”) + reality.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan irrealitat
  • irrealitatTranslations
French irréalité
  • irréalitéTranslations
Irish neamhréaltacht, míréalaíocht
  • neamhréaltachtTranslations
  • míréalaíochtTranslations
Italian irrealtà
  • irrealtàTranslations
Latvian irealitāte
  • irealitāteTranslations
Portuguese irrealidade
  • irrealidadeTranslations
Spanish irrealidad
  • irrealidadTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

unreality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unreality

MLA

“unreality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unreality. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unreality,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unreality.

Source: unreality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.