noun
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true existence; reality
-
(sometimes plural) a fact or condition that is real
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of actuality
1350–1400; Middle English actualite < Medieval Latin āctuālitās. See actual, -ity
Explanation
Actuality is the quality of being real or true. You might wish you could make friends with a bear, but in actuality, you should definitely not climb into the grizzly enclosure at the zoo. Use this word for anything that's objectively factual — you may be terrified of flying, but in actuality it's much safer than riding in a car. Before it meant "state of being real," the word actuality was defined as "power," from the Latin root actus, or "doing." The meaning had shifted by the 1670s, first to "existing conditions," from the French actuel, "up to date," and then to the current definition.
Vocabulary lists containing actuality
Novel Study: American Born Chinese, Pages 85–233
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Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos
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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:
In actuality, data exists on computer servers, its components “as tangible as gold bullion.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“I’m really happy that it looks like, ‘Oh, they must have spent so much time,’ when in actuality we just had such a great chemistry immediately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In actuality, the PSG players are going through the instructions in their head as they decide where to move.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
In actuality, LWD didn’t have much to do with Mamdani’s success.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2025
In actuality, he never even got through the grabbing part with much success.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
His contribution, titled “The Nobel Returns Home,” celebrates how “the Arts — and literature in particular — are well and thriving” in Africa, “a sturdy flag waved above depressing actualities by a young, confident generation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2021
The appearance of unity is easier than the messy actualities.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2019
She despises nearly all public art, for its obliviousness of the actualities of public life.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 15, 2014
We were instant friends, who communicated not on the actualities of our lives, but through story.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2014
The pleasurableness or painfulness is predicated of some definite object or event, and corresponds to definite actualities perceived in the object or imagined with the help of former experience.
From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by C. M. Williams
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
