noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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UK:/səˈɹiː(.ə)l.ɪz.əm/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
UK:/syːˈɹiː(.ə)l.ɪz.əm/
CMU ARPABET:S ER0 IY1 L IH0 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:S ER0 IY1 AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: art, arts
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Art with a surreal aesthetic or narrative, regardless of whether or not it is linked to the surrealist movement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal, uncountable
Topics: art, arts
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a 20th century movement of artists and writers (developing out of dadaism) who used fantastic images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: artistic movement, art movement
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super- Old French sur- French sur- Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh1-der. Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh1ís Proto-Italic *reis Classical Latin rēs Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin reālisder. Old French reel Middle French real French réel Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)der. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French réalisme French surréalismebor. English surrealism Borrowed from French surréalisme. By surface analysis, sur- + realism or surreal + -ism.
Across languages
Translations
56 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
سُرْيَالِيَّة
(suryāliyya)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Armenian:
սյուրռեալիզմ
(syurṙealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Armenian:
գերիրապաշտություն
(gerirapaštutʻyun)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Azerbaijani:
sürrealizm
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Bengali:
পরাবাস্তববাদ
(porabastobbad)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Bulgarian:
сюрреали́зъм
(sjurrealízǎm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Burmese:
ဆာရီယယ်လစ်ဇင်
(hcariyailacjang)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Catalan:
surrealisme
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Chinese Mandarin:
超現實主義 /超现实主义
(chāoxiànshízhǔyì)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Chuvash:
сюрреализм
(sjurrealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Crimean Tatar:
sürrealizm
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Czech:
surrealismus
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Danish:
surrealismen
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Dutch:
Surrealisme
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Esperanto:
superrealismo
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Estonian:
sürrealism
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Finnish:
surrealismi
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
French:
surréalisme
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Georgian:
სიურრეალიზმი
(siurrealizmi)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
German:
Surrealismus
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Greek:
υπερρεαλισμός
(yperrealismós)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Hebrew:
הסוריאליזם
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Indonesian:
surealisme
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Irish:
osréalachas
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Italian:
surrealismo
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Japanese:
シュルレアリスム
(shururearisumu)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Kannada:
ಸರ್ರಿಯಲಿಸಮ್
(sarriyalisam)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Kazakh:
сюрреализм
(sürrealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Korean:
서리얼리즘
(seorieollijeum)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Kyrgyz:
сюрреализм
(syurrealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Malayalam:
സർറിയലിസം
(saṟṟiyalisaṁ)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Māori:
toi pohewa
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Mongolian:
сюрреализм
(sjurrealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Nepali:
अतियथार्थवाद
(atiyathārthavād)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Norwegian:
surrealisme
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Persian:
فراواقعگرایی
(farâ-vâqe'-garâyi)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Polish:
surrealizm
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Portuguese:
surrealismo
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Romanian:
suprarealism
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Russian:
сюрреали́зм
(sjurrealízm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Scottish Gaelic:
os-fhìreachas
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Serbo-Croatian:
nadrealizam
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Slovak:
surrealizmus
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Spanish:
surrealismo
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Swedish:
surrealism
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Tagalog:
pagkamakakubtunay
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Tamil:
அடிமன வெளிப்பாட்டியம்
(aṭimaṉa veḷippāṭṭiyam)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Telugu:
సర్రియలిజం
(sarriyalijaṁ)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Thai:
ลัทธิเหนือจริง
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Thai:
เซอร์เรียลลิซึม
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Turkish:
sürrealizm
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Turkish:
gerçeküstücülük
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Uzbek:
surrealizm
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Vietnamese:
chủ nghĩa siêu thực
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Vietnamese:
nghệ thuật siêu thực
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy
Yiddish:
סוררעאַליזמ
(surrealizm)
— artistic movement and aesthetic philosophy