diff --git a/base/abstractarraymath.jl b/base/abstractarraymath.jl
index 7ac606f9724d5f..fb02a5f0e664e4 100644
--- a/base/abstractarraymath.jl
+++ b/base/abstractarraymath.jl
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@
 
  ## Basic functions ##
 
-isreal(x::AbstractArray) = all(isreal,x)
 iszero(x::AbstractArray) = all(iszero,x)
-isreal{T<:Real,n}(x::AbstractArray{T,n}) = true
+all{T<:Real}(::typeof(isreal), ::AbstractArray{T}) = true
 all{T<:Integer}(::typeof(isinteger), ::AbstractArray{T}) = true
 ctranspose(a::AbstractArray) = error("ctranspose not implemented for $(typeof(a)). Consider adding parentheses, e.g. A*(B*C') instead of A*B*C' to avoid explicit calculation of the transposed matrix.")
 transpose(a::AbstractArray) = error("transpose not implemented for $(typeof(a)). Consider adding parentheses, e.g. A*(B*C.') instead of A*B*C' to avoid explicit calculation of the transposed matrix.")
diff --git a/base/complex.jl b/base/complex.jl
index 16cc55e87b3426..75dc72d6bdf07f 100644
--- a/base/complex.jl
+++ b/base/complex.jl
@@ -78,14 +78,11 @@ real{T<:Real}(::Type{Complex{T}}) = T
 """
     isreal(x) -> Bool
 
-Test whether `x` or all its elements are numerically equal to some real number.
+Test whether `x` is numerically equal to some real number.
 
 ```jldoctest
 julia> isreal(5.)
 true
-
-julia> isreal([4.; complex(0,1)])
-false
 ```
 """
 isreal(x::Real) = true
diff --git a/base/deprecated.jl b/base/deprecated.jl
index a91ff22b75569b..bff68fe8bc8aab 100644
--- a/base/deprecated.jl
+++ b/base/deprecated.jl
@@ -1496,8 +1496,9 @@ function frexp{T<:AbstractFloat}(A::Array{T})
     return (F, E)
 end
 
-# Deprecate reducing isinteger over arrays
+# Deprecate array-reducing isinteger and isreal
 @deprecate isinteger(A::AbstractArray) all(isinteger, A)
+@deprecate isreal(A::AbstractArray) all(isreal, A)
 
 # Calling promote_op is likely a bad idea, so deprecate its convenience wrapper promote_eltype_op
 @deprecate promote_eltype_op(op, As...) promote_op(op, map(eltype, As)...)
diff --git a/base/linalg/dense.jl b/base/linalg/dense.jl
index b4098fc2ddedfc..ad6cd48ad7308b 100644
--- a/base/linalg/dense.jl
+++ b/base/linalg/dense.jl
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ function logm(A::StridedMatrix)
         end
     end
 
-    if isreal(A) && ~np_real_eigs
+    if all(isreal, A) && ~np_real_eigs
         return real(retmat)
     else
         return retmat
diff --git a/base/linalg/diagonal.jl b/base/linalg/diagonal.jl
index cf81a2206a85b4..4eedf7340cf52c 100644
--- a/base/linalg/diagonal.jl
+++ b/base/linalg/diagonal.jl
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ end
 parent(D::Diagonal) = D.diag
 
 ishermitian{T<:Real}(D::Diagonal{T}) = true
-ishermitian(D::Diagonal) = isreal(D.diag)
+ishermitian(D::Diagonal) = all(isreal, D.diag)
 issymmetric(D::Diagonal) = true
 isposdef(D::Diagonal) = all(x -> x > 0, D.diag)
 
diff --git a/base/linalg/eigen.jl b/base/linalg/eigen.jl
index 9a3e6e511c508a..c9aa2284174c85 100644
--- a/base/linalg/eigen.jl
+++ b/base/linalg/eigen.jl
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function getindex(A::Union{Eigen,GeneralizedEigen}, d::Symbol)
     throw(KeyError(d))
 end
 
-isposdef(A::Union{Eigen,GeneralizedEigen}) = isreal(A.values) && all(x -> x > 0, A.values)
+isposdef(A::Union{Eigen,GeneralizedEigen}) = all(isreal, A.values) && all(x -> x > 0, A.values)
 
 """
     eigfact!(A, [B])
diff --git a/base/linalg/symmetric.jl b/base/linalg/symmetric.jl
index 70a3bce514a153..8d2bbf5c4b96e7 100644
--- a/base/linalg/symmetric.jl
+++ b/base/linalg/symmetric.jl
@@ -169,9 +169,9 @@ end
 
 ishermitian(A::Hermitian) = true
 ishermitian{T<:Real,S}(A::Symmetric{T,S}) = true
-ishermitian{T<:Complex,S}(A::Symmetric{T,S}) = isreal(A.data)
+ishermitian{T<:Complex,S}(A::Symmetric{T,S}) = all(isreal, A.data)
 issymmetric{T<:Real,S}(A::Hermitian{T,S}) = true
-issymmetric{T<:Complex,S}(A::Hermitian{T,S}) = isreal(A.data)
+issymmetric{T<:Complex,S}(A::Hermitian{T,S}) = all(isreal, A.data)
 issymmetric(A::Symmetric) = true
 transpose(A::Symmetric) = A
 ctranspose{T<:Real}(A::Symmetric{T}) = A
diff --git a/base/linalg/triangular.jl b/base/linalg/triangular.jl
index a0eda4499fdf64..4fc1343ad3e1fb 100644
--- a/base/linalg/triangular.jl
+++ b/base/linalg/triangular.jl
@@ -1828,7 +1828,7 @@ logm(A::LowerTriangular) = logm(A.').'
 function sqrtm{T}(A::UpperTriangular{T})
     n = checksquare(A)
     realmatrix = false
-    if isreal(A)
+    if all(isreal, A)
         realmatrix = true
         for i = 1:n
             if real(A[i,i]) < 0
diff --git a/test/abstractarray.jl b/test/abstractarray.jl
index 9e4de03aa0351a..385d62f01bea93 100644
--- a/test/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/test/abstractarray.jl
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ end
 
 # isinteger and isreal
 @test all(isinteger, Diagonal(rand(1:5, 5))) # reducing isinteger(...) deprecated
-@test isreal(Diagonal(rand(5)))
+@test all(isreal, Diagonal(rand(5))) # reducing isreal(...) deprecated
 
 # unary ops
 let A = Diagonal(rand(1:5,5))
diff --git a/test/linalg/cholesky.jl b/test/linalg/cholesky.jl
index eb30eed5736a44..22d5ed2f4b9a85 100644
--- a/test/linalg/cholesky.jl
+++ b/test/linalg/cholesky.jl
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ for eltya in (Float32, Float64, Complex64, Complex128, BigFloat, Int)
         cpapd = cholfact(apd, :U, Val{true})
         @test rank(cpapd) == n
         @test all(diff(diag(real(cpapd.factors))).<=0.) # diagonal should be non-increasing
-        if isreal(apd)
+        if all(isreal, apd)
             @test apd*inv(cpapd) ≈ eye(n)
         end
         @test full(cpapd) ≈ apd