practicality

American  

[prak-ti-kal-i-tee] / ˌpræk tɪˈkæl ɪ ti /

Rarely practicalness

noun

• practicalities
  plural

1. the quality of being adapted or designed for actual use; usefulness or convenience.

   Your home furniture choices should be based on practicality, durability, and beauty.

2. interest in or inclination toward actual work or activity as opposed to theories or ideas.

   My mother was an entrepreneur whose tremendous vision, teamed with her practicality, “moved mountains.”

3. a detail or consideration involved in putting something into action.

   She talked with culinary students about their dreams as well as the practicalities of launching a food business.

4. the constraints or demands of real life or actual implementation.

   Economy and practicality dictate that we can't save every green space from development.

5. the quality or fact of relating to actual activity, especially ordinary or everyday activity.

   I appreciate the real-world practicality of the question, “What does it mean to be a father?”

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpracticality
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• practicalities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of practicality

practical ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Explanation

Something that demonstrates practicality makes good sense. If you choose your new shoes based on their practicality, you'll probably buy a pair of sneakers, rather than knee-high boots with five inch heels. A person's practicality can also be called common sense, and an object or action's practicality has to do with how efficient or suitable it is. The practicality of doctors carefully washing their hands before surgery is clear, while the practicality of dressing your dog in a ballerina costume is less so. The root of practicality is practical, which in turn comes from the Old French word practique, "fit for action."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

practicality practicalities

WSJ | Buy Side: Prioritize comfort and practicality without compromising on style with these on-trend dad shoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Double sauce is not necessary, but I like a little indulgence underscoring the practicality of a packable meal.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

A Conservative Senedd member questioned the practicality of requiring the training, while a Senedd source told BBC Wales the idea was "hare-brained".

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

It was this same practicality that pushed her to get a job at the Inner City Cultural Center, a multicultural theater company born in the wake of the Watts Uprising.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

But the problem with being an official prison chaplain, it seemed to me, was that one had to accept the values of the system and could not, as a matter of practicality, question anything.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Wilde in particular lights up during this section, Angela’s mind racing at possibilities she never considered for herself while fumbling over the practicalities of protocols and just how this would work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

As SpaceX prepares to go public, investors are pondering the practicalities of Elon Musk’s multiplanetary vision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Although the practicalities and cost of sending a team to South America in 1950 was daunting.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

“There’s very little tangible information about any of the practicalities of who it would apply to and there’s a little bit of conflicting messaging,” said McGill’s Smith.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

Creative pursuits had no place in the practicalities of real life.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• common-sense