irrelevant
[ ih-rel-uh-vuh nt ]
/ ɪˈrɛl ə vənt /
adjective
not relevant; not applicable or pertinent: His lectures often stray to interesting but irrelevant subjects.
Law.
(of evidence) having no probative value upon any issue in the case.
Origin of irrelevant
First recorded in 1780–90
pronunciation note for irrelevant
The pronunciation of
irrelevant
[ih-rel-uh-vuh nt] /ɪˈrɛl ə vənt/, as
[ih-rev-uh-luh nt] /ɪˈrɛv ə lənt/, as if spelled
irrevelant, is the result of metathesis, the transposition of two sounds, in this case, the
[l] /l/ and the
[v] /v/.
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] /l/ and
[v] /v/ consonant sounds, althought not a strict one-to-one metathesis, can be heard for
Calvary
[kal-vuh-ree] /ˈkæl və ri/ when pronounced
[kav-uh l-ree] /ˈkæv əl ri/. Here the transposition is reinforced by the existence of the familiar word
cavalry.
OTHER WORDS FROM irrelevant
ir·rel·e·vant·ly, adverbWords nearby irrelevant
irregular verb,
irregularity,
irrelative,
irrelevance,
irrelevancy,
irrelevant,
irrelievable,
irreligion,
irreligious,
irremeable,
irremediable
Example sentences from the Web for irrelevant
British Dictionary definitions for irrelevant
irrelevant
/ (ɪˈrɛləvənt) /
adjective
not relating or pertinent to the matter at hand; not important