reality

[ree-al-i-tee]

noun

plural

realities 

1. the state or quality of being real.

2. resemblance to what is real.

3. a real thing or fact.

4. real things, facts, or events taken as a whole; state of affairs.

   the reality of the business world; vacationing to escape reality.

5. Philosophy.

   1. something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

   2. something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

6. something that is real.

7. something that constitutes a real or actual thing, as distinguished from something that is merely apparent.

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a TV program or film that portrays nonactors interacting or competing with each other in real but contrived situations, allegedly without a script.

   a popular reality show; reality TV.

reality

/ rɪˈælɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state of things as they are or appear to be, rather than as one might wish them to be

2. something that is real

3. the state of being real

4. philosophy

   1. that which exists, independent of human awareness

   2. the totality of facts as they are independent of human awareness of them See also conceptualism Compare appearance

5. actually; in fact

Other Word Forms

• antireality adjective
• nonreality noun
• proreality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of reality¹

From the Medieval Latin word reālitās, dating back to 1540–50. See real ¹, -ity

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in reality, in fact or truth; actually.

   brave in appearance, but in reality a coward.

Example Sentences

Every fourth Thursday in November, millions of Americans endure a similar challenge, spending their Thanksgiving holidays trying to strike a delicate balance between their own reality and someone else’s ideas.

Read more on Salon

The owner of the car wash, too, was trying to square the promise of the United States with the reality that he was living.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Let's park the usual excuses - "commercial reality", "revenue difference", "it's complicated".

Read more on BBC

Those stats were a reality for Stoke in our difficult first three seasons in the Premier League, when we were looking to establish ourselves in the top flight.

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The summit was a reality check on just how much global consensus has broken down over what to do about climate change.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• existence 
• matter 
• phenomenon 
• real world 
• realism 
• sensibility 
• truth