irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant i-ˈre-lə-vənt 

: not relevant : inapplicable

that statement is irrelevant to your argument

irrelevantly adverb

Synonyms

• extraneous
• immaterial
• impertinent
• inapplicable
• inapposite
• irrelative

Examples of irrelevant in a Sentence

His comment is completely irrelevant.

irrelevant questions that merely disrupted the classroom lesson

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, Smartmatic's lawyers argued that the indictment is irrelevant to their lawsuit. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024

While many of these Indigenous AI projects are in their early stages, Running Wolf hopes programs like his will be irrelevant in a decade or two. —Iris Kim, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2024

The judge affirmed her ruling in October, rejecting the prosecutor’s argument that the bullets were irrelevant to the case. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 26 Nov. 2024

Prosecutors argued in their brief Friday their questions were irrelevant to the jury’s eventual verdict. —Alex Mann, Baltimore Sun, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant (ˈ)ir-ˈ(r)el-ə-vənt 

: not relevant : not applicable or pertinent

the evidence presented was judged irrelevant to the case

irrelevance

-vən(t)s

noun

or irrelevancy

-vən-sē

irrelevantly adverb

Legal Definition

irrelevant

adjective

ir·​rel·​e·​vant ir-ˈre-lə-vənt 

: not relevant : not applicable or pertinent

irrelevant allegations

irrelevant evidence

compare immaterial

irrelevantly adverb