The metal-insulator transition and unconventional metallic transport in vanadium dioxide (VO$_2$) are investigated with a combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectance measurements. The data indicates that electronic correlations, not electron-phonon interactions, govern charge dynamics in the metallic state of VO$_2$. This study focuses on the frequency and temperature dependence of the conductivity in the regime of extremely short mean free path violating the Ioffe-Regel-Mott limit of metallic transport. The standard quasiparticle picture of charge conduction is found to be untenable in metallic VO$_2$.
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