What does unrealistically mean?
Unrealistically is an adverb meaning in a way that is inconsistent with reality, possibility, or reasonable expectation. It is used particularly when discussing plans, forecasts, prices, ambitions, and outcomes that appear too extreme, too optimistic, or too impractical to be credible. The adverb can express straightforward disagreement with an assumption, as in an unrealistically optimistic budget, or describe an exaggerated fictional or social condition, as in an unrealistically cheap product. Its force lies in the contrast between what is imagined and what is considered feasible. It is stronger and more critical than simply saying that something is unlikely: unrealistically suggests a substantial departure from ordinary experience or practical limits. The word is common in British and American English and can appear in journalism, business, academic analysis, criticism, and everyday conversation. It is especially useful when a claim is not necessarily false but is based on assumptions or expectations that ignore meaningful constraints.
adverbIn a way that departs from reality or reasonable possibility. It often describes assumptions, expectations, or outcomes that are excessively extreme, idealistic, or implausible.
- In a way that is inconsistent with reality, likelihood, or reasonable expectation.
"The forecast predicts an unrealistically high chance of rain throughout the region."
"The sales target was unrealistically optimistic, so the team revised it before the quarter began."
"The novel depicts a society in which extreme inequality is accepted as normal and automation has made work almost unrealistically cheap."
A plan may be ambitious without being unrealistic, but it becomes unrealistically ambitious when its promises outrun every practical constraint.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does unrealistically come from?
The adverb was formed by adding the suffix -ly to unrealistic, which in turn combines unreal with -istic. Its roots ultimately lead to Latin realis, meaning pertaining to a thing as it actually is, from res, meaning thing, matter, or fact. The negative prefix un-, ultimately from Latin, reverses the idea of reality or realism, while related English forms include unreal, realism, realistic, and reality.
How unrealistically is actually used
This is standard formal and informal usage, but it is especially common in analytical, commercial, political, and news contexts. It is normally evaluative: the thing described is not merely surprising but is judged to be disconnected from practical or probable reality.
Easily confused with unrealistically
Unreal is an adjective describing something that is not real or actual, whereas unrealistically is an adverb describing a manner or degree that departs from reality.