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

Now the country’s largest private employer is making plans to confront that reality.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

We all know that reality TV isn’t quite real.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As a former police officer and a journalist in the British Empire, Orwell grew up in a reality he used to create his fiction.

Read more on Salon

There is little comfort to this reality, though, as Geeta Gandbhirs devastating documentary “The Perfect Neighbor” unfolds, one police visit after another.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“I didn’t know what I saw when I looked in the mirror. Was I fat? Was I thin? I don’t know. You lose all sense of reality,” she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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