real-life
adjective
existing or happening in reality.
real-life
American
[ree-uhl-lahyf, reel-]
/ ˈri əlˌlaɪf, ˈril- /
adjective
real life
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of real-life
First recorded in 1830–40
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:
Which, the more she sat with it, made it perfect as the title for a portrait of real-life disability rights activist Judy Heumann, who, while being in a wheelchair, made herself undismissable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
In several of her novels, Ms. Mandel has had characters with beloved quotations tattooed on their bodies, a practice that inspired a real-life trend of the author’s fans being inked with lines from her books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
A morally questionable reporter-turned TV host is the protagonist of Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime", based on the real-life NBC television show "To Catch a Predator" that unmasked paedophiles after luring them to staged meetings with minors.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
When you join, you hatch a pet bird, and as you complete real-life tasks, your Finch is rewarded with rainbow coins that can be spent on outfits and furniture.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
“Dylan was practically playing a real-life version of it on our way over here.”
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Maybe you’ve wondered why Greenland and Africa look roughly the same size on such maps, when Africa is actually 14 times larger, or why Antarctica looks infinitely large, when that isn’t true in real life.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
I petted my bird by tapping my screen while my real life cat glared at me from a corner.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
It "bowls you over: it's real life written in a poetic way," user @thayslaaaa commented.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Her name is Anne-Laure Sellier, an academic in real life, here playing Béatrice Courte, a professor at Columbia University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The type of story that everyone loves to see in ballets or books or movies but hates to hear about in real life.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
