reality

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reality

what is real or existent; resemblance to what is real: reality show; something that constitutes an actual thing: The reality is that he is your son.

Not to be confused with:

realty – real property or real estate: She’s a realty salesperson.

re·al·i·ty

(rē-ăl′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. re·al·i·ties

1. The quality or state of being actual or true.

2. One, such as a person, an entity, or an event, that is actual: "the weight of history and political realities" (Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.).

3. The totality of all things possessing actuality, existence, or essence.

4. That which exists objectively and in fact: Your observations do not seem to be about reality.

adj.

Relating to or being a genre of television or film in which a storyline is created by editing footage of people interacting or competing with one another in unscripted, unrehearsed situations.

Idiom:

in reality

In fact; actually.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

reality

(rɪˈælɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

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) philosophy

a. that which exists, independent of human awareness

b. the totality of facts as they are, independent of human awareness of them. See also conceptualism Compare appearance⁶

5. in reality actually; in fact

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

re•al•i•ty

(riˈæl ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

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: reading fantasy books to escape from reality.

5. Philos.

a. something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

b. something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

Idioms:

in reality, in fact or truth; actually.

[1540–50; < Medieval Latin reālitās. See real¹, -ity]

reality

Whatever is accepted as having objective existence, independent of thought or language.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	reality - all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you; "his world was shattered"; "we live in different worlds"; "for them demons were as much a part of reality as trees were" world real life, real world - the practical world as opposed to the academic world; "a good consultant must have a lot of experience in the real world" experience - the content of direct observation or participation in an event; "he had a religious experience"; "he recalled the experience vividly"
	2.	reality - the state of being actual or real; "the reality of his situation slowly dawned on him" realness, realism actuality - the state of actually existing objectively; "a hope that progressed from possibility to actuality" fact - an event known to have happened or something known to have existed; "your fears have no basis in fact"; "how much of the story is fact and how much fiction is hard to tell" irreality, unreality - the state of being insubstantial or imaginary; not existing objectively or in fact
	3.	reality - the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be; "businessmen have to face harsh realities" actuality - the state of actually existing objectively; "a hope that progressed from possibility to actuality" historicalness - the state of having in fact existed in the past
	4.	reality - the quality possessed by something that is real corporality, corporeality, physicalness, materiality - the quality of being physical; consisting of matter unreality - the quality possessed by something that is unreal

reality

noun

1. truth, fact, certainty, realism, validity, authenticity, verity, actuality, materiality, genuineness, verisimilitude, corporeality Fiction and reality were increasingly blurred.

2. truth, fact, actuality the harsh reality of top international competition

in reality in fact, really, actually, in truth, as a matter of fact, in actuality, in point of fact He came across as streetwise, but in reality he was not.

Quotations
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" [Philip K. Dick I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon]
"Human kind"
"Cannot bear very much reality" [T.S. Eliot East Coker]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

reality

noun

1. The fact or state of existing or of being actual:

actuality, being, entity, existence.

2. The quality of being actual or factual:

actuality, fact, factuality, factualness, truth.

3. Something having real, demonstrable existence:

actuality, event, fact, phenomenon.

Translations

حَقائِق الحَياهحِقيقَه، واقِعوَاقِعواقِعِيَّه

realitaskutečnost

virkelighedkendsgerningrealitet

Realität Wirklichkeit

πραγματικότητα

realidad

todellisuusolemassaolo

réalité

stvarnost

tényekvalószerûség

raunveruleikistaîreynd

realtà realt...

現実実在

현실

realiteit werkelijkheidfeitelijkheid

røyndvirkelighet

rzeczywistość

realidade

реальность явь данность действительность вещественность

stvarnost

verklighet

ความจริง

gerçekgerçek oluşgerçeklik

thực tế

真实事实现实

reality

[riːˈælɪtɪ]

A. N

1. (= real world) → realidad f
let's get back to reality → volvamos a la realidad

2. (= fact, truth) → realidad f
the harsh reality of daily life → la cruda realidad de la vida diaria
let's stick to realities → atengámonos a la realidad
to become (a) reality → convertirse en realidad
in reality (= actually) → en realidad

3. (= trueness to life) → realismo m

B. CPD reality TV N → telerrealidad f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

reality

[riˈælɪti] n → réalité f
fiction and reality → la fiction et la réalité
the harsh realities of life → la dure réalité
to face reality → affronter la réalité
the reality is that ... → la réalité, c'est que ...
to become a reality → devenir réalité
in reality → en réalité, en fait reality checkreality check n
to be a reality check for sb, to provide a reality check for sb → ramener qn à la réalitéreality show n → reality show mreality TV n (also reality television) → télé-réalité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

reality

→ Wirklichkeit f, → Realität f; to become reality → sich verwirklichen; (the) reality is somewhat different → die Wirklichkeit or Realität sieht etwas anders aus; in reality (= in fact) → in Wirklichkeit; (= actually) → eigentlich; to bring somebody back to reality → jdn auf den Boden der Tatsachen zurückbringen; the realities of the situation → der wirkliche Sachverhalt

(= trueness to life) → Naturtreue f

reality

reality check

n (inf) → Augenöffner m (inf); to give somebody a reality → jdm die Augen öffnen; he needs a reality → man muss ihn mit der Realität konfrontieren, er muss sich mit der Realität auseinandersetzen

reality show

n → Reality-TV-Show f

reality TV

n → Reality TV nt; reality show = reality show

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

reality

[riːˈælɪtɪ] n → realtà f inv
in reality → in realtà, in effetti

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

real

(riəl) adjective

1. which actually exists. There's a real monster in that cave.

2. not imitation; genuine. real leather; Is that diamond real?

3. actual. He may own the factory, but it's his manager who is the real boss.

4. great. a real surprise/problem.

adverb

(especially American) very; really. a real nice house.

ˈrealist noun

a person who sees, or claims to see, life as it is, without being affected by emotion etc.

ˈrealism noun

ˌreaˈlistic adjective

(negative unrealistic).

1. showing things as they really are. a realistic painting.

2. taking a sensible, practical view of life. I'd like to think we'd sell five of these a day, but it would be more realistic to say two.

ˌreaˈlistically adverb

reality (riˈӕləti) noun

1. that which is real and not imaginary. It was a relief to get back to reality after hearing the ghost story.

2. the state of being real.

3. (often in plural – reˈalities) a fact. Death and sorrow are two of the grim realities of human existence.

ˈreally adverb

1. in fact. He looks a fool but he is really very clever.

2. very. That's a really nice hat!

interjection

an expression of surprise, protest, doubt etc. `I'm going to be the next manager.' `Oh really?'; Really! You mustn't be so rude!

real estate

(the buying and selling of) land and houses.

for real

(especially American) genuine; true. He says he's got a new bike, but I don't know if that's for real.

in reality

really; actually. He pretends to be busy, but in reality he has very little to do.

realism,

reality

etc see real

reality

→ وَاقِع realita virkelighed Realität πραγματικότητα realidad todellisuus réalité stvarnost realtà 現実 현실 realiteit virkelighet rzeczywistość realidade реальность verklighet ความจริง gerçeklik thực tế 真实

re·al·i·ty

n. realidad.

reality

n (pl -ties) realidad f; — testing (psych) prueba de realidad

References in classic literature ?

They constituted another world and were as a play of superior beings on an exalted stage where was no reality such as black men might know as reality, where, like the phantoms of a dream, the white men moved and were as shadows cast upon the vast and mysterious curtain of the Cosmos.

View in context

Reality has since copied Prince Carl with an astonishing faithfulness.

View in context

In the next place, from reflecting on the circumstance that I doubted, and that consequently my being was not wholly perfect (for I clearly saw that it was a greater perfection to know than to doubt), I was led to inquire whence I had learned to think of something more perfect than myself; and I clearly recognized that I must hold this notion from some nature which in reality was more perfect.

View in context

Considering these as the reality, all desires die out."*

View in context

Such histories as these do, in reality, very much resemble a newspaper, which consists of just the same number of words, whether there be any news in it or not.

View in context

But it came, the smash of reality from without, crashing upon his ear drums in a loud, explosive snort.

View in context

Images are "merely imaginary"; they have not, in crude thought, the sort of reality that belongs to outside bodies.

View in context

In those early days I had no philosophized preference for reality in literature, and I dare say if I had been asked, I should have said that the plays of Shakespeare where reality is least felt were the most imaginative; that is the belief of the puerile critics still; but I suppose it was my instinctive liking for reality that made the great Histories so delightful to me, and that rendered "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" vital in their very ghosts and witches.

View in context

All that is unhomelike in the future, and whatever maketh strayed birds shiver, is verily more homelike and familiar than your "reality."

View in context

She had imagined him better than he was in reality. She had to let herself drop down to the reality to enjoy him as he really was.

View in context

Anything but the foremost place I could not conceive for myself, and for that very reason I quite contentedly occupied the lowest in reality. Either to be a hero or to grovel in the mud--there was nothing between.

View in context

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous.