immaterial
Syllables: im·ma·ter·i·alUK/ˌɪ.məˈtɪə.ɹɪ.əl//ˌɪ.məˈtɪ.ɹi.əl/
immaterial adjective: having no matter or substance; incorporeal.
Adjective
immaterial (comparative more immaterial, superlative most immaterial)
- Having no matter or substance; incorporeal.
- Some believe that because ghosts are immaterial, they can pass through walls.
- You feel like a disembodied spirit, immaterial; and you seem to be able to touch beauty as though it were a palpable thing; and you feel an intimate communion with the breeze, and with the trees breaking into leaf, and with the iridescence of the river. You feel like God. Can you explain that to me?1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXI, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page 118
- Synonyms:
- intangible, nonmaterial, unmaterial, airy, aery, ethereal, diaphanous, insubstantial, tenuous, unreal
- Of the nature of the soul or spirit; spiritual.
- [T]here are ſome beings in the vvorld vvhich cannot depend upon matter or motion, i.e. that there are ſome ſpiritual and immaterial ſubstances or Beings […] If there be then ſuch things in the vvorld vvhich matter and motion cannot be the cauſes of, then there are certainly spiritual and immaterial...1662, Edward Stillingfleet, “Of the Being of God”, in Origines Sacræ, or A Rational Account of the Grounds of Christian Faith, […], London: […] R[obert] W[hite] for Henry Mortlock […], →OCLC, book...
- Of no importance; inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant.
- He has also been good enough to recommend to me many tradesmen who are ready to supply these articles in any quantities; each of whom has been here already a dozen times, cap in hand, and vowing that it is quite immaterial when I pay—which is very kind of them; […]1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], chapter 1, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 11
- Synonyms:
- base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous, idle, ignorable, inconsequential
- Antonyms:
- big, central, consequential, critical, crucial, epochful, essential, extraordinary, fateful, fatefraught
- Having or seeming to have very little substance; insubstantial, slight.
- No, vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle, / immaterial ſkeine of ſleiue ſilke; thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a prodigalls purſe— […]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
- Mr. Woodhouse considered eight persons at dinner together as the utmost that his nerves could bear—and here was a ninth— […] She [Emma] comforted her father better than she could comfort herself, by representing that though he certainly would make them nine, yet he always said so little, that the...1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, pages 303–304
- Synonyms:
- diaphanous, flimsy, gossamer, airy, aery, ethereal, insubstantial, tenuous, unreal, unsubstantial
- Especially of evidence; chiefly followed by to: not associated in any way that is important or useful to the context being discussed; irrelevant.
- Objection, your Honour! The defendant’s criminal record is immaterial to this case.
- He was perpetually at her side, trying, apparently, to preserve the thread of a disconnected talk, the fate of which was, to judge by her face, profoundly immaterial to the young lady.1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., “Christina”, in Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- neither here nor there, ungermane, arbitrary, betwixt and between, incoherent, independent, irrelative, irrespective, self-standing, separate
- Antonyms:
- germane, material, pertinent, relevant, affiliated, allied, apposite, associated, comparative, connected
Noun
immaterial (countable and uncountable, plural immaterials)
- A being or entity having no matter or substance.
- A thing which is abstract or intangible; (uncountable) chiefly preceded by the: things which are abstract or intangible considered collectively.
- Lodge immaterials in thy Head: aſcend unto inviſibles: fill thy Spirit vvith Spirituals, vvith the myſteries of Faith, the magnalities of Religion, and thy Life vvith the Honour of God; […]c. 1670s (date written), Thomas Brown [i.e., Thomas Browne], “Sect[ion] XIV”, in John Jeffery, editor, Christian Morals, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] [A]t the University-Press, for Cornelius...
- And we do absolutely know that these men's inborn temperaments have remained unchanged through all the vicissitudes of their material affairs. Let us see how it is with their immaterials.1906, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “What Is Man? Chapter VI. Instinct and Thought.”, in What Is Man? And Other Essays, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published May...
immaterial meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
immaterial in Tamil
- சிறப்பற்ற, புறக்கணிக்கத்தக்க, பொருட்டல்லாத, பொருளற்ற
immaterial in Urdu
- ادنیٰ, غیرمادی, غیرمہم, ناچیز
immaterial in Bengali
- অপ্রাসঙ্গিক, গুরুত্বহীন, আধ্যাত্মিক, অভৌত
immaterial in Malayalam
- unimportant, irrelevant, inconsequential
- അപ്രധാനമായ, അഗണ്യമായ, അസാരം, കാര്യമില്ലാത്ത, അപ്രസക്തമായ, അസംഗതമായ
- incorporeal, intangible, bodiless
- അമൂർത്തമായ, രൂപമില്ലാത്ത, അദ്രവ്യ, വസ്തു അല്ലാത്ത, അസാധന, വസ്തുത്വമില്ലാത്ത
More languagesFewer languages
- immaterial in Kannada
- ಅರಿದಲ್ಲದ, ನನಸಲ್ಲದ, ಅಮುಖ್ಯ, ಅಪ್ರಧಾನ
Examples of immaterial in a sentence
- It is immaterial whether the authority acted in good faith or bad faith.
- Now what I think of these films as an individual is immaterial.
- So few young people found employment they are almost immaterial to the analysis.
Synonyms of immaterial
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of immaterial
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more immaterial |
| superlative | most immaterial |
| Noun | |
| plural | immaterials |
Origin of immaterial
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English immaterial, inmateriall (“incorporeal; spiritual”), from Middle French immateriel (“not material”) (modern French immatériel), and from its etymon Medieval Latin immāteriālis (“not material”), from Latin im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + māteriālis (“made of matter, material”) (from māteria (“matter, substance, material”) (from māter, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr, + ia) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship)). The English word is analysable as im- + material. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Words formed from immaterial
Questions about immaterial
- What does immaterial mean?
- Immaterial means having no matter or substance; incorporeal.
- What is immaterial in Tamil?
- Immaterial in Tamil is சிறப்பற்ற, புறக்கணிக்கத்தக்க, பொருட்டல்லாத. See Immaterial meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is immaterial?
- Immaterial can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce immaterial?
- Immaterial is pronounced /ˌɪ.məˈtɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ (UK).
Words near immaterial in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: immaterial (page history and authors); immaterial (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); immaterial (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Immaterial (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); immaterial (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); immaterial (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-immaterial.wav.
Cite this entry: “immaterial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/immaterial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.