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• real time
  real time

  noun

  the actual time elapsed in the performance of a computation by a computer, the result of the computation being required for the continuation of a physical process.
• real-time
  real-time

  adjective

  of or relating to applications in which the computer must respond as rapidly as required by the user or necessitated by the process being controlled.

real time

¹ American  

[ree-uhl, reel] / ˈri əl, ril /

noun

• real times
  plural

1. Computers. the actual time elapsed in the performance of a computation by a computer, the result of the computation being required for the continuation of a physical process.

2. the actual time during which a process takes place or an event occurs.

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idioms

1. in real time, at once; instantaneously.

real-time ² American  

[ree-uhl-tahym, reel-] / ˈri əlˈtaɪm, ˈril- /

adjective

Computers.

1. of or relating to applications in which the computer must respond as rapidly as required by the user or necessitated by the process being controlled.

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real-time British  

adjective

1. denoting or relating to a data-processing system in which a computer receives constantly changing data, such as information relating to air-traffic control, travel booking systems, etc, and processes it sufficiently rapidly to be able to control the source of the data

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real-time Cultural  

1. A term used to describe computer systems that update information at the same rate as they receive data.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• real times
  plural

Etymology

Origin of real time

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

real time real-time

Live sports has become attractive to advertisers as it is one of the few ways to reach a massive audience in real time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Contrarians don’t hazard a guess of how it will eventually play out, letting the market tell its story in real time.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

A separate storm overflow map shows storm overflows in "near real time", with overflows remaining visible for 24 hours after they end.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

The technique gives scientists a way to examine extremely fast chemical reactions at the atomic scale and in real time.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026

Caught up, she began cracking messages in real time, many of them from the West Coast.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

The roll-up doors will allow cars to be driven inside and a wall of high-resolution LED panels will project backgrounds in real-time 3-D environments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Only about 1 in 5 maintains a real-time inventory of the agents it is running.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Friends of the River Teign, external is one such group uses volunteers equipped with real-time testing kits to provide "more frequent, more localised water quality information across River Teign estuary and surrounding coastal waters".

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

But it’s the actors who execute their vision by playing off of each other and leaning into creative impulse when the scripted scene or real-time audience reaction calls for it.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Bill Gates got to do real-time programming as an eighth grader in 1968.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell