Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or state of being unrelated to a matter being considered.
  • noun Something unrelated to a matter being considered.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as irrelevancy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun lack of relationship with the topic at hand; lack of importance

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the lack of a relation of something to the matter at hand

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Looks like NBC's slide into ratings irrelevance is continuing.

    Tube Bits for 10/09/2008 2008

  • Can we assume that irrelevance is more likely to be signaled than relevance?

    Archive 2006-10-01 Hal Duncan 2006

  • For the longer that this is the prevailing wisdom inside the party, the better its chances for long-term irrelevance, or perhaps something even more deserving and delightful.

    Ugly: The Future of the Republican Party 2008

  • Can we assume that irrelevance is more likely to be signaled than relevance?

    AI - Mark 4 Hal Duncan 2006

  • The retreat into irrelevance is visible all across the humanities curriculum.

    The Truth About Harvard 2005

  • Danny, wrong thread dude, your irrelevance is embarrasing for you.

    Think Progress » On Today Show, O’Reilly Compares Murtha With Hitler Sympathizers 2005

  • The retreat into irrelevance is visible all across the humanities curriculum.

    The Truth About Harvard 2005

  • Ironically, however, as Menand also makes clear, the first general education curricula were developed precisely to combat the problem of "irrelevance" - to provide college graduates with some cohesive and coherent shared knowledge that could not be contained within disciplinary boundaries but which would, the idea was, help fit them for post-college life.

    Inside Higher Ed 2010

  • Ironically, however, as Menand also makes clear, the first general education curricula were developed precisely to combat the problem of "irrelevance" - to provide college graduates with some cohesive and coherent shared knowledge that could not be contained within disciplinary boundaries but which would, the idea was, help fit them for post-college life.

    Inside Higher Ed 2010

  • It doesn't prove that angels and demons do not exist, just their irrelevance. is relevance defined by science now?

    Approaches Determine Outcomes 2009

Comments

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  • Ugh.

    November 3, 2009