antireality
|an-ti-re-al-i-ty|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.t̬ɪ.riˈæl.ə.ti/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.ti.riˈæl.ɪ.ti/
against reality / not real
Etymology
'antireality' is a Modern English coinage formed from the prefix 'anti-' (meaning 'against') + 'reality'. 'Anti-' ultimately comes from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against', and 'reality' derives from Latin 'res'/'realis' via Old French/Latin roots meaning 'thing' or 'relating to things.'
'anti-' comes from Greek 'anti' and entered English via Latin and French prefixes; 'reality' comes from Latin 'realis' (from 'res' meaning 'thing') through Old French and Middle English. The combined form 'antireality' is a recent formation in English used by philosophers and critics by combining these elements.
Originally the components meant 'against' + 'thingness' (i.e., opposition to things regarded as real); over time the compound has been used to denote both a philosophical stance opposing realism and more general notions of constructed or simulated unreality.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the view or position that denies the independent existence or objective reality of certain entities or aspects of the world (synonymous with antirealism in philosophy).
Her paper defended an antireality about theoretical entities, arguing they are useful fictions rather than independent objects.
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Noun 2
a state, depiction, or quality of being not real — e.g., an illusion, simulation, or constructed unreality (used in cultural critique, media studies, or everyday description).
The movie creates an antireality where memory and fantasy are indistinguishable.
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Noun 3
a rhetorical or poetic term for experiences, narratives, or worlds intentionally opposed to ordinary reality (used in literature and art criticism).
The novelist's latest work embraces antireality as a means to probe inner life.
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Last updated: 2025/09/08 20:06