IRL

See also: irl and irl.

Translingual

Symbol

IRL

1. (international standards) ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Ireland.

   Synonym: IE (alpha-2)

English

Etymology

Initialisms and abbreviations.

Proper noun

IRL

1. (motor racing) Initialism of Indy Racing League.

Adverb

IRL (not comparable)

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Initialism of in real life (as opposed to online).

   Synonyms: in the flesh, offline

   Coordinate terms: in-game, online

   • 1995 September 22, Benjamin Woolley, 22 minutes from the start, in The Net, season 2, episode 2:

     There are the same battles of the sexes, the same conflicts of interests, the same struggles to make friends. This world has the perils as well as the pleasure that you experience in real life or IRL as MUD players call it.

   • 2015, Joanna Walsh, Grow a Pair:

     Due to the splendid isolation guaranteed by her social position she had never met a cock IRL and, as there was no Wi-Fi in the palace, she had no opportunity to check the facts.

   • 2015 October 15, “Why is it so hard to go from chatting on Tinder to meeting up in real life?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     I’ve recently been trying out Tinder, and while I match with people and even chat with them everything seems to be going well, but whenever I bring up meeting IRL, they are quick to ghost me.

Translations

in real life, in text messaging

• Ukrainian: рж (rž)

Adjective

IRL (not comparable)

2. Existing or being such in real life.

   His IRL girlfriend.

   • 2020 January 10, Aimee Cliff, “Poppy: I Disagree review – online pop-bot embraces IRL nu-metal”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     But as Poppy’s fictional world expanded, Pereira became embroiled in IRL controversy.

   • 2021 December 2, Mike Pomeranz, “Archived copy”, in foodandwine.com‎^[3], archived from the original on 12 March 2023:

     […] this "100-percent real soap bar" is "the perfect gift for cilantro lovers and haters alike" […] Chipotle says the now IRL soap stems from a humorous photo the brand shared on Instagram back in August.

Related terms

• RR, real reality

Noun

IRL (plural IRLs)

1. (Internet slang) An IRL friend.

See also

• RL
• meatspace
• OOC
• IG
• AFK

Anagrams

• ILR, LIR