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reality check

noun

  1. a corrective confronting of reality, in order to counteract one's expectations, prejudices, or the like.


reality check

noun

  1. an occasion or opportunity to consider a matter realistically or honestly
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of reality check1

First recorded in 1970–75
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Idioms and Phrases

An assessment to determine if one's circumstances or expectations conform to reality, as in Time for a reality check—wasn't this supposed to be a money-making enterprise? [ Slang ; second half of 1900s]
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Example Sentences

She's absolutely someone I'd marry, and I just needed a big reality check to grow up and take it seriously.

This year’s American showcase at the Venice architecture biennial offers a reality check to United States’ bombastic self-image.

From Quartz

We begin with a reality check on American history from senior correspondent Janell Ross, who argues that the country is stuck in a pattern of talking about racial inequality but doing little to solve it.

From Time

He did caution, though, that our expectations of what polling can — and can’t — do probably need a reality check.

Whether it’s a solution or a reality check, I’m open to any suggestions.

Reality check: Perfect is never on the menu, especially in Albany.

Klopfer alleged in an interview with RH Reality Check that these anti-abortion groups have doctored his forms.

Still, the oppression of Christians abroad could be a much-needed reality check for those complaining about the War on Christmas.

Reality Check No. 1: Immigration reform is only dead if the House of Representatives—specifically Speaker Boehner—decides it is.

Progressives who hope, in 2014, to regulate their way out of this problem need a reality check.

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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.

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