realityre‧al‧i‧ty /riˈæləti/ ●●● S2 W2 noun (plural realities) 
the distinction between fantasy and reality TV is used as an escape from reality. I think the government has lost touch with reality (=no longer understands what is real or true). political realitiesharsh/grim/stark reality Millions of people live with the harsh realities of unemployment.the reality is that The reality is that young people will not go into teaching until salaries are higher. The paperless office may one day become a reality.2in reality used to say that something is different from what people think: In reality, violent crimes are still extremely rare.3[uncountable] the fact that something exists or is happening: She had never accepted the reality of her pregnancy. → virtual realityCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesthe harsh/grim/stark reality (=conditions that are really very bad)· We want to protect our children from the harsh reality of our violent world.political/social/economic realities· He's ignoring political realities.verbsface reality (=accept it)· It's painful, but you have to face reality.confront a reality (=consider or deal with it)· They had to confront some unpleasant realities about themselves.ignore a reality· They are ignoring the reality of Arab politics.wake up to reality (=realize what is happening or real)· Well, they need to wake up to reality.lose touch with reality (=no longer know about ordinary things or what is possible)· If all you have is the show-business world, you kind of lose touch with reality.escape from reality· The programmes help viewers escape from reality.bring somebody back to reality (=make them realize what is happening around them or true)· She was brought back to reality by the pain in her ankle.become a reality (=really happen, after being hoped for, feared, etc by someone)· Last June, her longed-for baby finally became a reality.reflect reality (=match or show what is really happening or true)· Do these novels accurately reflect contemporary reality?bear no relation to reality (=not match what is really happening or true)· His vision of European politics bears no relation to reality.be divorced from reality (=not connected in any way to what is really happening)· His ideas are completely divorced from reality.phrasesa dose of reality (=an experience of what things are really like)· I got my first dose of reality when I reported to work at my new job.somebody's grasp of reality (=their understanding of reality)· They portrayed her as a sick woman with only a tenuous grasp of reality.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Delane turned to drugs as an escape from reality.
- Small children often can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.
- As a result, a heavy dose of reality has descended on the Buchanan campaign.
- As it turned out, they had all the problems one would reasonably expect, given their experiential reality.
- But I have suggested that these three viewpoints express different ways of knowing and relating to one complex multi-layered reality.
- But it refers to a religious reality that is so basic and so universal its equivalent has been found almost everywhere.
- But the reality of biology is much more complicated.
- Now, as the barriers come down between East and West, that prospect will become a reality.
- There are realities that I can not change.
Longman Language Activatorwhen the real situation is different from what people think
especially spoken used to tell or ask someone what the real situation is, when they think it is something different: · "Here's the $10 I owe you." "Actually, you owe me 20."· Did he actually hit you or just threaten you?· It turns out that one of the children I thought was a girl was actually a boy.
used to tell someone what the real situation is, when they think it is something different. Actually is more informal and is used more in conversation than in fact . Actually is also used more in questions than in fact . Actually is often used at the beginning of a sentence that answers a question, but in fact is not.: · He said it would be cheap but in fact it cost over £200.· No, I'm not offended at all. In fact, I'm glad you asked the question.in actual fact/in point of fact: · They seem to think that building a new road will improve the traffic problem, whereas in point of fact it will make it worse.· There are almost 200,000 possible combinations of symbols. In actual fact, only a small number of these are used.
spoken used to say what the truth is, especially because something about the situation may make people believe something that is wrong: · He failed his tests, but he's quite a bright guy, really.· Are you sure she's really a lawyer? She doesn't act like one.· They're asking £600,000 for the house. That's more than it's really worth.
used to introduce the second part of a statement when you want to show that the first part is not true or exact: · It seems like just yesterday, but in reality it was five years ago.· Nowadays owning a car may appear to be a necessity, but in reality it isn't.· They say that the economy is already coming out of the recession, but the reality is that there has been no improvement at all.the reality of the situation is: · The reality of the situation is that by sending drug users to jail, the government may be discouraging people from seeking treatment.
used to show what the real truth or fact is in a situation, when this is surprising or different from what people believed was true: · The truth was that she did not enjoy getting together with the rest of her family.· The fact is he was murdered. He didn't commit suicide at all.· I may make it all look easy, but the truth is I work very hard.
used to show the difference between what is supposed to happen according to a rule or law, and what does happen: · Teenagers are not allowed to drink in bars, but in practice they often do.· Economic predictions are highly theoretical. It's what they mean in practice that is important.in theory ... in practice: · The law seemed like a good idea in theory, but in practice it has proved far too expensive.
used to show what really happens, even though this was not clear from what was said or done: · Foreign companies have been effectively running the country for decades.· Management seems to be saying, in effect, that if we don't like the offer, we can all quit.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives His ideas are completely divorced from reality. a young girl suddenly exposed to the harsh realities of lifeCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
(=conditions that are really very bad)· We want to protect our children from the harsh reality of our violent world.
· He's ignoring political realities.
verbs (=accept it)· It's painful, but you have to face reality.
(=consider or deal with it)· They had to confront some unpleasant realities about themselves.
· They are ignoring the reality of Arab politics.
(=realize what is happening or real)· Well, they need to wake up to reality.
(=no longer know about ordinary things or what is possible)· If all you have is the show-business world, you kind of lose touch with reality.
· The programmes help viewers escape from reality.
(=make them realize what is happening around them or true)· She was brought back to reality by the pain in her ankle.
(=really happen, after being hoped for, feared, etc by someone)· Last June, her longed-for baby finally became a reality.
(=match or show what is really happening or true)· Do these novels accurately reflect contemporary reality?
(=not match what is really happening or true)· His vision of European politics bears no relation to reality.
(=not connected in any way to what is really happening)· His ideas are completely divorced from reality.
phrases (=an experience of what things are really like)· I got my first dose of reality when I reported to work at my new job.
(=their understanding of reality)· They portrayed her as a sick woman with only a tenuous grasp of reality.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES His ideas are completely divorced from reality. a young girl suddenly exposed to the harsh realities of life· Chavez, however, recognizes the pressures on him to make the leap from deconstructing the past to building new economic realities.· In a wide-open auction, broadcasters would face a harsh economic reality.· But the steps taken so far have been tentative ones, forced by bitter economic realities.· Were they about to change, now that the new economic realities of health care had changed where decisions would be made?· Human institutions and ideas are a superstructure built on economic reality.· At the same time, economic and political realities had to be accommodated.· But all of those societies had political and social ideologies that were congruent with their economic realities.
· The individual suspends his critical judgement and involvement in external reality to becoming passively absorbed in an imaginary world.· Still, these external realities inform rather than dictate the novel.· When it dropped her back inside the moment, the external realities of Kärtnerstrasse seemed a pastiche of the Middle Ages.· In these projections the movement is not of external reality inward but of the self outward.· These inner phantasies are projected into the external reality which is then re-incorporated as objective reality.· A stronger sense of self, based on a combination of external reality and internal ideas, begins to emerge.· There is no neutral, objective, external criterion for reality or rationality.· Marx none the less believed that an external reality did exist, and that human consciousness could understand it.
· And that we have an obligation to listen to noise because it shows us the grim truth of reality.· Yet its simplicity dramatizes a grim reality.· But these steps forward are against the background of some grim realities for children in other areas.· Perhaps some of them are good at putting on a face, saving the grim reality for private moments.· Life was teaching him its grim realities - the hard and close way.· My brief visit certainly brought home to me the grim realities that lie behind the many statistics on Third World debt.· It has all been a fantastic myth exploded by grim reality.· However, the pain in her chest confirmed that this was no nightmare, but grim reality.
· Flight from reality, especially harsh, unpleasant reality.· In a wide-open auction, broadcasters would face a harsh economic reality.· Little Nemo was a little boy with a sweeping imagination, Tank Girl is a big girl steeped in harsh reality.· One of the harsh realities about the electronic media is that it chews up its stars as fast as it creates them.· Faces were stripped of pretence by the pitiless bombardment of harsh reality.· Dennis Sherman learned that harsh reality over the winter when he came across two large groups of illegal immigrants atop Mount Laguna.· The photographs of black cotton pickers, including young children, are reminders of the harsh reality underlying the glory.· Acknowledging the sometimes harsh realities of our own history should not be cause for self-flagellation and blame.
· Chavez, however, recognizes the pressures on him to make the leap from deconstructing the past to building new economic realities.· They have not adapted themselves to the new reality.· Social and employment policy must reflect these new realities.· They had just one minute to pull us into a new reality and a new play.· Then, he felt the world shift on its axis, and knew that a new reality had slotted into its place.· This 1995 work is his first to grapple with the social changes of the new political reality.· What he longed for was an end to the day and to the new, unlivable reality it had brought.· As with Alcatel Alsthom, the company faces new realities in a changing market, the company spokesman said.
· The content it attaches to physical reality makes the natural world autonomous; its quest is to determine what is.· The bull, then, becomes an example of the unity of male and female experience within physical reality.· It seems that the nine-month gestation period has a psychological as well as a physical reality in human life.· Electrons can not wholly disappear without having any effect on the rest of physical reality.· Einstein and his collaborators had, therefore, to be very careful how they defined what they meant by physical reality.· This is what classical physics has taught us about the nature of physical reality.· It's the way our system of physical reality works.· Mathematical equations lead us to physical realities.
· Yet here again political realities asserted themselves.· It will take far more than this book to help you make your own judgments regarding political reality.· Perceptions are simply a vision of political realities.· This first budget also reflects practical and political realities.· At the same time, economic and political realities had to be accommodated.· And then the Colorado legislature threw the cold water of political reality on the process.· Nevertheless, while in legal theory there may be complete flexibility, the political reality may be quite different.· True / false. Political reality is as important as environmental reality.
· Exploitation and oppression will be concepts of history which have no place in the description of contemporary social reality.· Instead it is argued that the unusual social profile of lawbreakers did reflect social reality.· This is not to deny, of course, that crime and violence in contemporary society is an important social reality.· Deviation is managed and progressively denied by continual renegotiation of the social reality against which it is set off.· The position of women as subjects in sociology may give a distorted impression of social reality.· But ideas which are determined by social reality are not, because they are so determined, necessarily erroneous.· It is a matter of their input systems being tuned to the contours of this physical and this social reality.
· It was how I'd always imagined showbiz would be - far removed from the stark reality of Working Men's Clubs.· As a nation, we are right to finally confront the stark reality of needless suffering among the dying.· Faced with the stark reality of a choice between jobs or no jobs, the majority had elected to work.· But the stark reality of the Highland scene described reminds me of another idyllic circumstance that went the rounds about this time.
· When this happens, we will encounter a strange blurring of the edges between virtual and true realities.· But these Escondido students have elevated the missions to near virtual reality status.· At the moment virtual reality has a rather lightweight reputation, and has not really made its mark outside the entertainment industry.· For some, the new Times Square is itself an exercise in virtual reality come to life.· MultiGen, meantime, has been made more powerful through a number of virtual reality options.· Peeshaw with your Nintendo and your virtual reality!· For all the hype, this is really just a glorified amusement arcade with a few virtual-reality rides thrown in.· Some managers come away from virtual reality demonstrations with unhealthy visions of holograms dancing in their heads.
NOUN· I needed-what do they call that?-a reality check.· Such feedback can be valuable as a reality check and provide you support when you actually implement your plan.· Well, the first loss to Kentucky in 75 years and an imminent losing season is bringing forth a rude reality check.· It is really important to get regular reality checks from those we love and trust.· Mayor, why don't you drive around and get a reality check?· Your accountant can do a reality check on your projections.
VERB· We have to accept that the reality is that we are always already on the slope, holding a position.· That is, one who is a monotheist does not accept the ontological reality of idols.· I've learnt so much from other families in the same situation and it's helped me to accept the realities.· We accept this and accept the realities.· It's easier to find excuses for poor customer service than accept reality and do something about it.· The puff pieces are then accepted as reality by those who inspired them..· He seemed to be much better equipped to accept political realities than I was.· Citizens will accept this for reality.
· We want something written into the Bill that makes it likely that some of the consumer safeguards will become a reality.· To become a reality, electronic commerce needs a network infrastructure to transport the content.· But could this fantasy of genetic engineering ever become reality?· Hope had betrayed her into thinking dreams could become reality.· Neither will likely become a reality this year, for political and substantive reasons.· We shall have to see if one of the more interesting measures in the Budget ever becomes reality.· Some of these visions, like Zionism and socialism, may occasionally become reality.
· He was brought in touch with reality, he was thawed out.· Meanwhile, the planners said the next five years are crucial in bringing their vision to reality.· Sometimes it was necessary to shout at him to bring him back to reality.· Guttenberg and Quinlan are attractive, capable players able to bring some degree of reality to their single parents.· Inside the studio we were brought back sharply to reality by a studio audience, all of whom shared two characteristics.· Which brings us back to reality and mythology.· This m lange makes for a diverse mixture, brought together by the reality of the distribution of Knesset seats.
· Rather than inventing a unique fictional world, it creates a recognisable reality that calls for accuracy.· Sure, I admit that I no longer can create my own reality.· If we create our own reality, we create our own future.· When I finally accepted that I create my own reality, I was excited but scared.· Hang on a minute ... If we create our own reality, then how can we ever be justified in feeling angry?· Then I reminded myself that I create my own reality!· Are you willing to take responsibility for your life, to accept that we create our own reality?· After all, we create our own reality.
· A dream citadel where Billy escapes from his day-mare realities.
· For Rosenberg, faced with the realities of the world, the canvas would become the site of an existential encounter.· I always face reality too late: a fact which Lisa had pointed out to me before I left London.· It is a lack, a disqualification, an inability to face the reality of their child's disability.· In a wide-open auction, broadcasters would face a harsh economic reality.· It is certainly not enough to face reality bluntly if the future develops as I describe it.· If individuals are forced to face the reality of starvation, everyone will buckle down to work.· I share this hesitation; but I also feel compelled to face reality.
· Social and employment policy must reflect these new realities.· Attitudes and speech patterns remain in place long after they no longer reflect reality.· The content of core programmes will continue to evolve to reflect the changing reality of the business environment.· The appearance is one of thoroughness, but whether the assumptions reflect reality can usually be questioned.· Although this picture no longer accurately reflects the reality of many modern corporate structures, legal rules still rest upon the old idea.· Other viewpoints reflected a different reality.· Nevertheless, the second surely comes closer to reflecting the realities and passions of the 1930s.· But how well does the show reflect the reality of policing suburbia?
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- Henry always seems so self-confident, but in reality he's extremely shy.
WORD FAMILYnounrealismrealistrealityunrealityrealizationadjectiverealunrealrealistic ≠ unrealisticadverbrealreallyrealistically ≠ unrealisticallyverbrealize
1[countable, uncountable] what actually happens or is true, not what is imagined or thought: the distinction between fantasy and reality TV is used as an escape from reality. I think the government has lost touch with reality (=no longer understands what is real or true). political realitiesharsh/grim/stark reality Millions of people live with the harsh realities of unemployment.the reality is that The reality is that young people will not go into teaching until salaries are higher. The paperless office may one day become a reality.2in reality used to say that something is different from what people think: In reality, violent crimes are still extremely rare.3[uncountable] the fact that something exists or is happening: She had never accepted the reality of her pregnancy. → virtual realityCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesthe harsh/grim/stark reality (=conditions that are really very bad)· We want to protect our children from the harsh reality of our violent world.political/social/economic realities· He's ignoring political realities.verbsface reality (=accept it)· It's painful, but you have to face reality.confront a reality (=consider or deal with it)· They had to confront some unpleasant realities about themselves.ignore a reality· They are ignoring the reality of Arab politics.wake up to reality (=realize what is happening or real)· Well, they need to wake up to reality.lose touch with reality (=no longer know about ordinary things or what is possible)· If all you have is the show-business world, you kind of lose touch with reality.escape from reality· The programmes help viewers escape from reality.bring somebody back to reality (=make them realize what is happening around them or true)· She was brought back to reality by the pain in her ankle.become a reality (=really happen, after being hoped for, feared, etc by someone)· Last June, her longed-for baby finally became a reality.reflect reality (=match or show what is really happening or true)· Do these novels accurately reflect contemporary reality?bear no relation to reality (=not match what is really happening or true)· His vision of European politics bears no relation to reality.be divorced from reality (=not connected in any way to what is really happening)· His ideas are completely divorced from reality.phrasesa dose of reality (=an experience of what things are really like)· I got my first dose of reality when I reported to work at my new job.somebody's grasp of reality (=their understanding of reality)· They portrayed her as a sick woman with only a tenuous grasp of reality.