reality check

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noun

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

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Origin of reality check

First recorded in 1970–75

Words nearby reality check

realist, realistic, reality, reality awareness, reality-based, reality check, reality fiction, reality principle, reality show, reality testing, reality TV

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use reality check in a sentence

She's absolutely someone I'd marry, and I just needed a big reality check to grow up and take it seriously.
Carolyn Hax: Girlfriend waited, and waited, then walked. How to prove you want to commit?|Carolyn Hax|May 31, 2021|Washington Post
This year’s American showcase at the Venice architecture biennial offers a reality check to United States’ bombastic self-image.
The US entry in the Venice architecture biennale shuns grandiose buildings and starchitects|Anne Quito|May 26, 2021|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.
The Story Behind TIME’s First-Ever BIPOC-Led Issue|Lucy Feldman|May 13, 2021|Time
He did caution, though, that our expectations of what polling can — and can’t — do probably need a reality check.
Why Was The National Polling Environment So Off In 2020?|Geoffrey Skelley (geoffrey.skelley@abc.com)|February 23, 2021|FiveThirtyEight

Whether it’s a solution or a reality check, I’m open to any suggestions.
My boss’s writing is full of errors, and I want to help her improve|Karla Miller|February 18, 2021|Washington Post
But if Democrats are faced with the reality of a glut of qualified candidates, Republicans are assembling more of a fantasy team.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In this cockamamie get-rich scheme, would they all issue an apology if he cut a check?
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We try to avoid going away for too long, so we can check back in.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That is a reality that still eats at Grace Castro and Yvonne Lozoya.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
His hero, Bruce Springsteen, is a gazillionaire, but he still manages to come across as a regular guy, so perception is reality.
Will Chris Christie Regret His Cowboy Hug?|Matt Lewis|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The intensity of his sensations seemed inexplicable, unless some reality, some truth, lay behind them.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
With less intelligent children traces of this tendency to take pictorial representation for reality may appear as late as four.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Thus they become accustomed to act as christians, to become so in reality in his time.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
"Very well," said the other, handing him a check for twenty-five dollars as a retainer, and straightway left the office.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Isaacson thought what the world would say, and suddenly he knew the reality of his affection for Nigel.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens

British Dictionary definitions for reality check

reality check

noun

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with reality check

reality check

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]