not relating or pertinent to the matter at hand; not important
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
ir•rel•e•van•cy
(i rel′ə vən sē),USA pronunciation n., pl. -cies.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025- irrelevance.
- ir-2 + relevancy 1795–1805
ir•rel•e•vant /ɪˈrɛləvənt/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- not relevant;
not applicable or pertinent:The complaints raised against the proposal were really irrelevant, so we ignored them.
ir•rel•e•vant
(i rel′ə vənt),USA pronunciation adj.
ir•rel ′e•vant•ly, adv.
- not relevant; not applicable or pertinent:His lectures often stray to interesting but irrelevant subjects.
- LawLaw. (of evidence) having no probative value upon any issue in the case.
- 1780–90
- The pronunciation of irrelevant
(i rel′ə vənt),USA pronunciation as
(i rev′ə lənt),USA pronunciation as if spelled irrevelant, is the result of metathesis, the transposition of two sounds, in this case, the
(l)USA pronunciation and the
(v).USA pronunciation Relevant, the base word, is occasionally subject to the same process. Analogy with words like prevalent and equivalent may play a role. A similar reordering of the
(l)USA pronunciation and
(v)USA pronunciation consonant sounds, althought not a strict one-to-one metathesis, can be heard for Calvary
(kal′və rē)USA pronunciation when pronounced
(kav′əl rē).USA pronunciation Here the transposition is reinforced by the existence of the familiar word cavalry.
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