surreal; strangely unreal
Used as a な-adjective for something dreamlike, oddly unreal, or absurd in a way that feels surreal. In everyday Japanese it often describes films, images, jokes, or situations with a strange, off-kilter mood.
It was a surreal movie, like something in a dream.
That commercial is strangely surreal and hard to forget.
Noun use as an abbreviation of シュルレアリスム, especially in discussion of art, literature, or style. The full form シュルレアリスム is clearer in formal writing.
See also: シュルレアリスム
In art history, シュール is used as an abbreviation for surrealism.
The influence of surrealism can be seen in his early works.
This movie keeps unfolding in a surreal way right to the end.
His surreal jokes always leave the audience puzzled.
The empty amusement park was a somehow surreal sight.
幻想的 means fantastical or dreamlike in a beautiful, mysterious way, while シュール adds a note of oddness or absurdity to that dreamlike quality.
非現実的 simply means unrealistic or impractical, lacking the artistic or absurdly dreamlike nuance that シュール carries.
A katakana word. No language of origin is specified. It also records the noun sense as an abbreviation of シュルレアリスム.