Derealization
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The psychological symptom in which the world appears to be unreal, and the patient has a sense of detachment from it. countable, uncountable
"Derealization frequently co-occurs with depersonalization disorder, in which affected individuals notice an altered perception of their surroundings, resulting in the world seeming unreal or dreamlike."
- 2 making unreal, in general; detachment from reality or realness. countable, uncountable
"The derealization of Arab Americans created the conditions whereby, after the attacks of 9/11, the American public was willing to allow, and sometimes become complicit in, their government's detention, extradition, and torture of Arabs and Muslims […]"
- 3 The loosening of the bonds of (an electron) so that it can move freely among a group of atoms; delocalization. countable, uncountable
"This section develops a theme mentioned […] in the previous section, namely the derealization of the unpaired electron away from the formal radical centre […]"
Example
More examples"Derealization frequently co-occurs with depersonalization disorder, in which affected individuals notice an altered perception of their surroundings, resulting in the world seeming unreal or dreamlike."
Etymology
From de- + real + -ization or derealize + -ation.
Related phrases
More for "derealization"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.