Word.ws English Dictionary

magic realism

UK/ˈmad͡ʒɪk ˈɹiəlɪzəm//ˈmæd͡ʒɪk ˈɹiəlɪzəm/

magic realism noun: a literary style or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements.

Noun

magic realism (usually uncountable, plural magic realisms)

  1. (usually) A literary style or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements.
    • Perhaps the best news to come out of the nominations was the brightened box-office prospects for such films as Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, a dazzling piece of magic realism pieced together from just $1.8m, some rusty bathtubs and whatever Louisiana bric-a-brac its youthful...2013 January 11, Tom Shone, “Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste – but will it last?”, in The Guardian

magic realism meaning in Hindi, Arabic and Vietnamese

magic realism in Hindi

Translations
जादुई यथार्थवाद jāduī yathārthavād

magic realism in Arabic

Translations
وَاقِعِيَّةُ سَحَرِيَّةٍ wāqiʕiyyatu saḥariyyatin

magic realism in Vietnamese

Translations
hiện thực huyền ảo

Forms of magic realism

pluralmagic realisms
alternative formmagical realism

Origin of magic realism

Calque of German Magischer Realismus, first referring to the anti-expressionist artistic movement New Objectivity (1925), later applied to literature, especially in Latin America where it is known as realismo mágico.

Words formed from magic realism

Questions about magic realism

What does magic realism mean?
Magic realism means a literary style or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements.
What is magic realism in Hindi?
Magic realism in Hindi is जादुई यथार्थवाद (jāduī yathārthavād). See Magic realism meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is magic realism?
Magic realism is a noun.
How do you pronounce magic realism?
Magic realism is pronounced /ˈmad͡ʒɪk ˈɹiəlɪzəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of magic realism?
The plural of magic realism is magic realisms.

Words near magic realism in the dictionary

  1. magic points
  2. magic potion
  3. magic potions
  4. magic pudding
  5. magic puddings
  6. magic realism
  7. magic realisms
  8. magic realist
  9. magic realists
  10. magic roundabout
  11. magic roundabouts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: magic realism (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-magic realism.wav.

Cite this entry: “magic realism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/magic_realism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.