surrealer

Surrealer is a nonstandard comparative form of the adjective surreal. In standard usage, English typically forms comparisons with more surreal rather than surrealer, since surreal is a multisyllabic adjective ending in -al. Surrealer is chiefly encountered in informal writing, humor, or stylistic prose and is not widely accepted in formal editing guides.

Etymology: surreal derives from French surreal, linked to the Surrealist movement of the early 20th century. The suffix -er is sometimes added to form a comparative in English, but this pattern is more common with shorter, simpler adjectives. For multisyllabic adjectives ending in -al, more surreal is the normative form.

Usage: The term may appear in art criticism, literary commentary, or casual discourse to heighten emphasis, often for a playful or emphatic effect. It can signal a deliberate deviation from standard grammar or a particular voice. In most formal contexts, writers avoid surrealer in favor of more surreal.

Examples: The landscape became more surreal after the storm. In some informal contexts a writer might say, “the landscape was surrealer than before” for emphasis, but this remains nonstandard and less accepted than “more surreal.”

See also: surrealism, dreamlike, uncanny.