reality

American  

[ree-al-i-tee] / riˈæl ɪ ti /

noun

• realities
  plural

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.

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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.

idioms

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

   brave in appearance, but in reality a coward.

reality British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonreality
  noun
• proreality
  noun
• antireality
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• realities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of reality

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

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Explanation

Reality is the way things actually are, not the way you might want them to be. Many TV shows claim to be reality, but they are really just pretend. The only actual reality is the life that happens every day. The noun reality harkens back to the late Latin realis, and later to the mid-16th Century Medieval Latin reālitās, referring to legal property matters, with the current meaning of "true existence" not coming about until 1647. Philosophers and scientists often debate about the true nature of reality, and a common philosophy is that a person’s reality is whatever he or she thinks it is. Or, as film director Tim Burton once said, "One person's craziness is another person's reality."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reality realities

The reality is that the rest of the G7 lack even this.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The truth is that Hopper’s final products are in no sense imprints of reality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Why would Slate go to the trouble of creating this alternate reality?

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

In reality, unless you relocate to one of the few countries that offer fast-track “citizenship by investment” programs, this choice isn’t even a possibility.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

We both knew what happened to you and we wanted to ignore that reality as long as possible.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

The author’s latest speculative dystopian fiction features parallel universes that explore alternate realities — and doppelgangers that stumble between the two.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Culvin warned the economic boom in women's football could "mask some of the realities that players face and actually endure on a day-to-day basis".

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

These realities don’t map to every experience yet following the NPC slander to its logical conclusion can be dangerous: declaring that a person’s alleged lack of inner thinking is justification for dismissing their humanity.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

A spinoff of “The Cosby Show” that ran until 1993, the series broke ground as one of television’s first glimpses into the realities of young Black identity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

I am saying, rather, that control must be geared to realities, not to mythical situations, and that the methods employed must be such that they do not destroy us along with the insects.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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Related Words

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

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