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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
And Sonny eventually integrates with a few of her fellow resort-goers, and learns there’s more to them in reality than her imaginings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
If I were on patrol to figure out where online subcultures were diverging from political reality, I’d start there.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
"The benefits of nature should be for everyone and we are committed to making this the reality as we build a greener, healthier and more resilient London for everyone," he added.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
So far, he said, Xi has played along with that lesson—giving Putin room, maintaining the appearances of equality in public, even as the underlying reality has shifted decisively in China’s favor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
As time goes on and research improves, the reality of consecutive negative tests becomes increasingly attainable.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
"Culture changes and you now have to deal with the modern realities in division of labour," he tells the BBC, noting that women have increasingly been taking up roles that had been seen as male.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Finally, investors need to face some realities around that Fed “put.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Though far from being a “gritty” period drama, “Little House” does attempt to capture the realities and complexities of its place and time, while still hewing to Wilder’s original themes of resilience, hope and family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Perhaps their eye-opening experience can accelerate the transformation of rights into realities.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Phenomena are too subjective: they are appearances, not realities; things and particulars are too much in the real world: none of them corresponds to that peculiar blend of reality and thought which is the fact.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
