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real1 definition

real (rē′əl, rēl)

adjective

  1. existing or happening as or in fact; actual, true, etc.; not merely seeming, pretended, imagined, fictitious, nominal, or ostensible
    1. authentic; genuine
    2. not pretended; sincere
  3. designating wages or income as measured by purchasing power
  4. Law of or relating to permanent, immovable things real property
  5. Math. designating or of the part of a complex number that is not imaginary: all irrational and rational numbers are real numbers
  6. Optics of or relating to an image made by the actual meeting of light rays at a point
  7. Philos. existing objectively; actual (not merely possible or ideal), or essential, absolute, ultimate (not relative, derivative, etc.)

Etymology: OFr < ML realis < L res, thing < IE base *rei-, property, thing > Sans rai, wealth, property

noun

anything that actually exists, or reality in general: with the

adverb

Informal very
real Idioms

for real

Slang real or really
real2 definition

real (rē′əl; Spre äl′)

noun pl. reals re′·als or reales re·al′es (re ä′les)

a former monetary unit and silver coin of Spain and its possessions

Etymology: Sp & Port, lit., royal < L regalis: see regal

real3 definition

real (re äl′)

noun

  1. reis
  2. pl. reais re·ais′

    Etymology: Port: see real

    the basic monetary unit of Brazil

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

finance real definition - finance

idioms real idiom

real Synonyms

real

modif.

  1. Genuine

    true, authentic, original, sincere; see genuine 1, 2.

  2. Having physical existence

    actual, solid, firm, substantive, material, live, substantial, existent, tangible, existing, present, palpable, factual, sound, concrete, corporal, corporeal, bodily, incarnate, embodied, physical, sensible, stable, in existence, de facto (Latin), perceptible, evident, undeniable, irrefutable, practical, true, true to life.

    Antonyms unreal*, unsubstantial*, hypothetical. *

  3. *Very

    extremely, exceedingly, exceptionally, uncommonly; see very.

real, actual, and true are often used interchangeably to imply correspondence with fact, but in discriminating use, true implies conformity with a standard or model a true democrat or with what actually exists a true story, actual stresses existence or occurrence as opposed to what is possible, likely, or abstract actual and hypothetical examples, and real highlights a distinction between what something is and what a substitute, counterfeit, etc. seems or pretends to be real rubber, real courage

for real*

  1. really, actually, in fact, in earnest; see really 1.

  2. real, actual, genuine, sincere; see genuine 1, 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

real Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: It aims to make that vision real through political education, political participation and political representation.

Modifies a noun

  • estate: Why should you invest in real estate in Bulgaria?

Modifying Another Word

  • very: For the pure in heart in a very real sense, THE BEST IS YET TO BE.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: This, I suggest, is what makes the dream seem more real on waking up.

Preposition: in

  • sense: Brahman, Ultimate Reality, is real in the truest sense.

Preposition: than

  • one: There is no other world that is more real than the one in which we live.
real usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

real quotes

A real, honest, old-fashioned Boarding-school, where a reasonable quantity of accomplishments were sold at a reasonable price, and where girlsmight be sent to be out of the wayand scramblethemselves into a little education, without any danger of coming back prodigies.

-Austen,Jane

There are two kinds of truth†real truths and made-up truths.

-Barry, Marion Shepilov,Jr

Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real. Love, and so art and morals, is the discovery of reality.

-Murray, Les(lie Allan)

real quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"real." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/real>

APA Style

real. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/real

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