actual
Americanadjective
-
existing in reality or as a matter of fact
-
real or genuine
-
existing at the present time; current
-
informal (usually preceded by your) (intensifier)
that music's by your actual Mozart, isn't it?
Usage
The excessive use of actual and actually should be avoided. They are unnecessary in sentences such as in actual fact, he is forty-two, and he did actually go to the play but did not enjoy it
Related Words
See real 1.
Other Word Forms
- actualness noun
- nonactual adjective
- nonactualness noun
Etymology
Origin of actual
First recorded in 1275–1325; from Late Latin āctuālis, from Latin āctu(s) act + -ālis -al 1; replacing Middle English actuel, from Middle French, from Latin
Compare meaning
How does actual compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
Communities that produce coal, she said, need “actual, durable transition solutions.”
From Los Angeles Times
He’s fifteen and prefers groaning to actual human words.
From Literature
"There are 130 conflicts going on in the world. You cannot have 130 different conflicts, however terrible they are, you cannot have them featured during the field of play, during the actual competition," he said.
From Barron's
However, the actual number is likely significantly lower, since the $49-million mark assumes all 18,360 illegal listings were rented at the advertised price.
From Los Angeles Times
Whatever its actual length, there is no doubting the war’s traumatic impact upon France, where swaths of countryside were depopulated for decades, or the grievous toll upon combatants and civilians alike.
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.
