irrelevant

irrelevant — adjective

1. having no real connection to the subject or situation being dealt with, so it do

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

having no real connection to the subject or situation being dealt with, so it does not matter or help in making a decision

Example

When the committee reviewed the budget, Faisal's comments about the office carpet were entirely irrelevant.

entirely / completely / totally + irrelevant for emphasis

The judge told the jury to disregard the testimony because it was irrelevant to the case.

irrelevant to + noun phrase (prepositional pattern)

Common collocations
  • completely irrelevant
  • totally irrelevant
  • entirely irrelevant
  • dismiss something as irrelevant
  • rule something as irrelevant
  • become irrelevant
  • render something irrelevant
Synonyms
  • unrelated

    more neutral and factual; unlike 'irrelevant', does not imply unimportance or dismissal

  • immaterial

    formal; used in legal or official contexts to mean 'not mattering under the rules'

  • beside the point

    informal phrase used in conversation rather than formal writing

Antonyms
  • relevant

    directly connected to and important for the subject at hand

  • pertinent

    formal; closely related to the topic being considered

Grammar Patterns

irrelevant + to + noun phrase

it + linking verb + irrelevant + that-clause / whether-clause

find/consider/deem + noun + irrelevant

Usage Note

Frequently paired with intensifying adverbs ('completely', 'totally', 'entirely'). The preposition that follows is always 'to' (irrelevant to something), never 'with' or 'for'. Can appear before a noun (attributive: an irrelevant question) or after a linking verb (predicative: the question is irrelevant). The noun form is 'irrelevance'.

Common Mistakes

That point is irrelevant with our discussion.
That point is irrelevant to our discussion.
'Irrelevant' takes the preposition 'to', never 'with'.
The color of the car is very irrelevant.
The color of the car is completely irrelevant.
Do not grade 'irrelevant' with 'very'; use 'completely', 'totally', or 'entirely' instead.

Word family

  • irrelevance
    nounC1
  • irrelevancy
    nounC1
  • irrelevantly
    adverbC1
  • relevant
    adjectiveB2
  • relevance
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Irrelevant' is the broadest and most common term: it means something has no bearing on the current matter and therefore does not matter. 'Unrelated' is more neutral — two things simply lack a connection, with no suggestion that the information should be dismissed. 'Immaterial' is formal and often legal in tone, emphasising that something does not affect the outcome under the rules. 'Extraneous' is also formal and suggests something is not only unconnected but also unnecessary or excessive. For example: 'His political views are irrelevant to this job interview.' (dismissive judgment). 'Her salary history is unrelated to her current request.' (neutral observation). 'The objection was ruled immaterial.' (legal context). 'The report contained extraneous data from a different department.' (unnecessary extras).

irrelevant ↗unrelatedimmaterialextraneous

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • dismiss as irrelevant
  • regard as irrelevant
  • become irrelevant
  • render irrelevant
  • deem irrelevant

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed in Latin as 'irrelevans', from the prefix 'ir-' (a variant of 'in-', meaning 'not') plus 'relevans' (present participle of 'relevare', meaning 'to lift up, to raise, to help'). The English sense developed through legal usage in the 1700s, where evidence was ruled 'irrelevant' if it did not help to clarify the case. The modern meaning broadened to any situation where a piece of information has no connection or importance.