surrealism

American

[suh-ree-uh-liz-uhm] / səˈri əˌlɪz əm /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc.

surrealism British

/ səˈrɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

(sometimes capital) a movement in art and literature in the 1920s, which developed esp from dada, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

surrealism Cultural

A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early twentieth century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control. Salvador Dali was an influential surrealist painter; Jean Cocteau was a master of surrealist film.

Other Word Forms

surrealist noun
surrealistic adjective
surrealistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of surrealism

From the French word surréalisme, dating back to 1920–25. See sur- ¹, realism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On the emerging side of the artistic spectrum is Andrew J. Park, whose airbrush paintings at Anthony Gallery blend surrealism, nostalgia and outdated technology with cutting-edge digital advances.

From The Wall Street Journal

The first, which he began making in the early 1960s, were mysterious, sinisterly bejeweled boxes, little containers of compressed surrealism festooned with hundreds of shiny straight pins.

From The Wall Street Journal

“It’s all shot through with these ‘Alice in Wonderland’ moments of surrealism,” Mays said.

From Los Angeles Times

Perhaps the most avant-garde filmmaker ever to make it big in Hollywood, David Lynch brought surrealism to the big screen in films including Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet.

From BBC

Recognizing this, Masson wrote in 1941, in “Painting is a Wager”: “Towards 1930, five years after the foundation of surrealism, a formidable disaster appeared in its midst: the demagogy of the irrational.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023