reality

[ ree-al-i-tee ]
See synonyms for: realityrealities on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural re·al·i·ties for 3, 5-7.
  1. the state or quality of being real.

  2. resemblance to what is real.

  1. a real thing or fact.

  2. real things, facts, or events taken as a whole; state of affairs: the reality of the business world; vacationing to escape reality.

  3. Philosophy.

    • something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

    • something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

  4. something that is real.

  5. something that constitutes a real or actual thing, as distinguished from something that is merely apparent.

adjective
  1. noting or pertaining to a TV program or film that portrays nonactors interacting or competing with each other in real but contrived situations, allegedly without a script: a popular reality show; reality TV.

Idioms about reality

  1. in reality, in fact or truth; actually: brave in appearance, but in reality a coward.

Origin of reality

1
From the Medieval Latin word reālitās, dating back to 1540–50. See real1, -ity

Other words from reality

  • an·ti·re·al·i·ty, adjective
  • non·re·al·i·ty, noun, plural non·re·al·i·ties.
  • pro·re·al·i·ty, noun

Words Nearby reality

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use reality in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for reality

reality

/ (rɪˈælɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the state of things as they are or appear to be, rather than as one might wish them to be

  2. something that is real

  1. the state of being real

  2. philosophy

    • that which exists, independent of human awareness

    • the totality of facts as they are independent of human awareness of them: See also conceptualism Compare appearance (def. 6)

  3. in reality actually; in fact

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012