unrealistic
part of speech
adjective (unrealistic; more unrealistic, most unrealistic)
meaning for a pupil
1) Unrealistic means not sensible or likely to happen, especially about plans or hopes: an unrealistic goal. tree →
2) Unrealistic means not looking or seeming real or true to life, as in an unrealistic drawing or film scene. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths problems, checking whether an answer is realistic is an important step: if a child's height comes out as 15 metres, that is unrealistic, so check the working. In writing, unrealistic dialogue sounds unnatural. In PSHE it is used about goals and about body images in adverts that are edited to look perfect. Phrases: «unrealistic expectations», «an unrealistic goal», «totally unrealistic».
examples
- An answer of 300 kg for a cat is unrealistic, so check your sum. tree →
- Getting 100 % in every test is an unrealistic goal. tree →
- The film's car chase was so unrealistic it was funny. tree →
- Photos in adverts can be edited and give unrealistic ideas of how people look. tree →
- Setting smaller goals is better than setting unrealistic ones. tree →
- His drawing of the horse was unrealistic because it had five legs. tree →
note
Adjective. Opposite: realistic. Adverb: unrealistically. In maths, always ask «Is my answer realistic?» — sensible size, sensible units.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «unrealistic» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.