nonrealistic
Departing from actuality
Nonrealistic describes art, literature, film, or other creative works that don't attempt to depict life as it actually appears or occurs.
The term covers a broad spectrum from the slightly stylized to the completely fantastical, including abstraction, surrealism, and expressionism.
The play's nonrealistic staging used symbolic props rather than literal sets.
Unlike unrealistic, which suggests something implausible or naive, nonrealistic is a neutral artistic descriptor indicating a deliberate departure from realism.
Hazy and fantastical
- hallucinatorySeeming falsely perceived
- phantasmagoricBizarrely dreamlike and shifting
- kafkaesqueNightmarishly illogical and bureaucratic
- oneiricRelating to dreams
uncanny · bizarre · illogical · irrational · distorted · metamorphic · otherworldly · psychedelic
Of traditional sacred narratives
- magicalPossessing supernatural power
- enchantedUnder magical influence
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- fairytaleMagical children's narrative
legendary · folkloric · fantastical · imaginary · invented · make-believe · fictional · otherworldly
Of or relating to ideas
- theoreticalBased on hypothesis, untested
- philosophicalConcerned with fundamental truths
- nonrepresentationalNot depicting reality
- nonfigurativeNot depicting reality
nonobjective · metaphysical · intangible · ideational · formless · nonliteral · symbolic · allegorical
One who conveys through art
- cubistGeometric abstraction painter
- fauvistBold-palette early modernist
- futuristTomorrow trends scholar
- constructivistBeliever in built understanding
avant-garde · modernist · postmodernist · primitivist · mannerist · baroque · grotesque · caricatured
dreamlike
Hazy and fantastical
- hallucinatorySeeming falsely perceived
- phantasmagoricBizarrely dreamlike and shifting
- kafkaesqueNightmarishly illogical and bureaucratic
oneiric · uncanny · bizarre · illogical · irrational · distorted · metamorphic · otherworldly · psychedelic · trippy
mythological
Of traditional sacred narratives
- magicalPossessing supernatural power
- enchantedUnder magical influence
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
fairytale · legendary · folkloric · fantastical · imaginary · invented · make-believe · fictional · otherworldly · marvelous
conceptual
Of or relating to ideas
- theoreticalBased on hypothesis, untested
- philosophicalConcerned with fundamental truths
- nonrepresentationalNot depicting reality
nonfigurative · nonobjective · metaphysical · intangible · ideational · formless · nonliteral · symbolic · allegorical · impressionistic
expressionist
One who conveys through art
- cubistGeometric abstraction painter
- fauvistBold-palette early modernist
- futuristTomorrow trends scholar
constructivist · avant-garde · modernist · postmodernist · primitivist · mannerist · baroque · grotesque · caricatured · exaggerated
nonrealisticrealistic
True to life
representational · naturalistic · figurative · lifelike · naturalist
nonrealisticrealistic
True to life
practical · feasible · achievable · pragmatic · down-to-earth
nonrealisticdocumentary
Factual film about reality
realistic · factual · veridical · journalistic · nonfiction
real, unreal, realistic, realism, unrealistic, realistically, unrealistically, unrealism