Definition

Adjective: 1. Characterized by fantastic, dreamlike, or bizarre imagery and the surprising or illogical combination of elements: Relating to or resembling the style of Surrealism, an artistic and literary movement that seeks to express the workings of the subconscious mind by presenting irrational, unexpected, and dreamlike scenes.

Usage

The adjective "surrealistic" is used to describe creative works, experiences, or situations that evoke the strange, illogical, and dream-like qualities associated with Surrealism. It emphasizes the element of the fantastic and the incongruous.

Examples

• The artist's surrealistic paintings feature melting clocks and barren landscapes, creating a sense of dreamlike disorientation.
• The film has a surrealistic quality, with characters suddenly breaking into song for no apparent narrative reason.
• Wandering through the foggy, empty city at dawn felt almost surrealistic.

Advanced Usage

• "Surrealistic humor": A type of comedy derived from absurd, nonsensical, or illogical situations and non-sequiturs, much like the events in a dream.
  • The comedian's act was full of surrealistic humor, involving talking animals and bizarre office scenarios.

Variants and Related Words

• Surreal (adj): Often used interchangeably with "surrealistic" to describe something having the qualities of a dream or fantasy, especially in a strange or unsettling way. ("The whole experience felt utterly .")
• Surrealism (n): The 20th-century artistic and literary movement that aimed to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind.
• Surrealist (n/adj): (n) A practitioner of Surrealism. (adj) Of or relating to Surrealism.

Synonyms

• Dreamlike
• Phantasmagoric
• Fantastic
• Bizarre
• Unreal

Antonyms

• Realistic
• Naturalistic
• Literal
• Ordinary

Adjective

1. characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions
   • a great concourse of phantasmagoric shadows--J.C.Powys
   • the incongruous imagery in surreal art and literature