reality
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being real.
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resemblance to what is real.
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a real thing or fact.
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real things, facts, or events taken as a whole; state of affairs.
the reality of the business world; vacationing to escape reality.
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Philosophy.
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something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.
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something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.
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something that is real.
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something that constitutes a real or actual thing, as distinguished from something that is merely apparent.
adjective
idioms
noun
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the state of things as they are or appear to be, rather than as one might wish them to be
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something that is real
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the state of being real
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philosophy
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that which exists, independent of human awareness
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the totality of facts as they are independent of human awareness of them See also conceptualism Compare appearance
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actually; in fact
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of reality
From the Medieval Latin word reālitās, dating back to 1540–50. See real 1, -ity
Explanation
Reality is the way things actually are, not the way you might want them to be. Many TV shows claim to be reality, but they are really just pretend. The only actual reality is the life that happens every day. The noun reality harkens back to the late Latin realis, and later to the mid-16th Century Medieval Latin reālitās, referring to legal property matters, with the current meaning of "true existence" not coming about until 1647. Philosophers and scientists often debate about the true nature of reality, and a common philosophy is that a person’s reality is whatever he or she thinks it is. Or, as film director Tim Burton once said, "One person's craziness is another person's reality."
Vocabulary lists containing reality
Workshop 1, Part 2
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"Fleeing Katrina"
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pratt is best known as the antagonist of “The Hills,” a reality show that ran from 2006-2010 and followed a group of friends in Los Angeles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
The result is a metaphysical model that, at best, lacks clarity, and at worst obscures the very nature of reality.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
Often, grandfamilies are created suddenly due to a family tragedy, and grandparents don’t have long to prepare for the reality of raising a new generation of kids.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
“Neuromancer,” one of the defining cyberpunk novels, was published in 1988; that book imagines an interconnected, virtual reality world you can traverse by “jacking in.”
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026
Although I prayed and persevered and tried my best not to worry, the reality was that once I drove outside the gates at Langley, neither my life nor the lives of my children were safe.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
