actuality

[ ak-choo-al-i-tee ]

/ ˌæk tʃuˈæl ɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR actuality ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ac·tu·al·i·ties.

actual existence; reality.

an actual condition or circumstance; fact: Space travel is now an actuality.

Nearby words

Origin of actuality

1350–1400; Middle English actualite < Medieval Latin āctuālitās. See actual, -ity

Related formsnon·ac·tu·al·i·ty, noun, plural non·ac·tu·al·i·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for actuality

In actuality, there were less than 300 U.S. soldiers in the valley at any given time.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In actuality, an encounter with a goddess of the underworld is another step in the second cycle of the monomyth.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical Hero|Regina Lizik|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But in actuality, the novel contains ample material that points to a real and specific time and place.
This Week’s Hot Reads: April 14, 2014|Charles Shafaieh|April 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To BE is to exist, to have actuality; a BI is a guy or girl with bisexuality.
National Scrabble Day: A Poem So You’ll Know All 101 Two-Letter Words|David Bukszpan|April 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

There is a need to humanize plans that work on paper, in the abstract, but lack touchy-feely elements in actuality.
What the Stars Hold for Your Week|Starsky + Cox|July 30, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The actuality of the sealing ordinance in marriage finds an illustration in the personal teachings of the Savior.
The House of the Lord|James E. Talmage
He went about absorbed in the interest and the actuality of this dream.
The Rainbow|D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
It was so unreal, so dreamlike, that for many days I had trouble convincing myself of its actuality.
Greener Than You Think|Ward Moore
My people, who know nothing as a rule, of course—but they tell me the woman is in actuality the daughter of a queen.
The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story|Various
All objects of thought exist, either purely in potentiality, or purely in actuality, or both in potentiality and in actuality.
Christianity and Greek Philosophy|Benjamin Franklin Cocker

British Dictionary definitions for actuality

actuality

/ (ˌæktʃʊˈælɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

true existence; reality

(sometimes plural) a fact or condition that is real

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

Word Origin and History for actuality

actuality

late 14c., "power, efficacy," from Old French actualite and directly from Medieval Latin actualitatem (nominative actualitas), from Late Latin actualis (see actual). A Latin loan-translation of Greek energeia. Meaning "state of being real" is from 1670s (actualities "existing conditions" is from 1660s).

Mod. use of actuality in the sense of realism, contact with the contemporary, is due to Fr. actualité, from actuel, which does not mean actual, real, but now existing, up to date. [Weekley]

actuality

noun, plural ac·tu·al·i·ties.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of actuality

Examples from the Web for actuality

actuality

noun plural -ties

actuality