From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real +‎ -ity. Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixed property” (compare real estate, realty); the sense “real existence” is attested from 1647. First attested in c. 1540.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈælɪti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈæləti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælɪti

reality (usually uncountable, plural realities)

1. The state of being actual or real; realness.

   The reality of the crash scene on TV dawned upon him only when he saw the victim was no actor but his friend.

   • 2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (0:11 from the start), in The Exploring Series‎^[1], archived from the original on 11 January 2023:

     While the SCP universe is, of course, filled with things that we would certainly not consider "real", most of the SCPs are tangible or perceivable in some way. There are those concepts, however, whose reality is debatable, even to the SCP Foundation, begging them to ask the question of what, exactly, is real.

2. The real world.
   • 1712 February 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, February 2, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 291; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition,[…], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     A man very often fancies that he understands a critic, when in reality he does not comprehend his meaning.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

     As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

   • 2015 August 13, Emmanuel Tsekleves, “Science fiction as fact: how desires drive discoveries”, in The Guardian‎^[2], archived from the original on 18 June 2016:

     Does this mean that reality has caught up with science fiction?

3. A real entity, event, or other fact.

   The ultimate reality of life is that it ends in death.

   There are several new realities that this team now needs to accept: our old project is dead, and our new project is now the priority.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost.[…], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter[…]; [a]nd Matthias Walker,[…], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…], 1873, →OCLC:

     And to realities yield all her shows.

   • 1770, James Beattie, Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth:

     My neck, Sir, may be an idea to you, but to me it is a reality.

   • 1983, Debarge, “A Dream”, in In A Special Way:

     A dream, of simple fantasy / That I, wished was reality / That you'd, come knocking at my door / And we'd, relive this dream once more

   • 1996 September, Doreen Drury, “The Gay Capital of the World”, in Gay Community News, page 22:

     Recent historical studies indicate that we must continue to challenge the notion that there is an unproblematic story of queer liberation. For example, how do local histories account for realities such as the increased racial segregation of the New York bar scene after Stonewall?

   • 2005 October 25, European Court of Human Rights, Wypych v. Poland‎^[3], number 2428/05:

     Given the economic realities of contemporary Poland, a requirement to provide information on movable assets which exceed PLN 10,000 in value cannot be held to be excessive.

   • 2011 May 11, Sam Leith, “Sam Leith's top 10 alternative realities”, in The Guardian‎^[4], archived from the original on 7 March 2021:

     Exploring alternative realities isn't just a game for boys. In 1666, Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, published a utopian fantasy of compelling strangeness.

   • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[5], volume 188, number 26, archived from the original on 10 April 2021, page 19:

     It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today[…].

   • 2018 September 8, Sonia Sodha, “It’s time to ditch the stereotypes and look at the realities behind singledom”, in The Guardian‎^[6], archived from the original on 9 November 2020:

     But part of me was still glad to see this undoubtedly superficial take. As a society, we barely discuss the realities and implications of singledom. In pop culture singledom is almost invariably represented as an easily fixed unhappy state, a step along the way to getting happily hitched.

4. The entirety of all that is real.
   • 2008 July 5, Russell T Davies, “Journey's End”, in Graeme Harper, director, Doctor Who, season 4 [30], episode 13, spoken by Davros (Julian Bleach):

     Across the entire Universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become... nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The DESTRUCTION! Of REALITY! ITSELF!

5. An individual observer's own subjective perception of that which is real.
6. (obsolete) Loyalty; devotion.
   • 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams,[…], →OCLC:

     To express our reality to the emperor.

7. (law, obsolete) Realty; real estate.
8. (broadcasting, attributive) Reality television.

   a foray into reality programming

• truth
• actuality

• fantasy

• harsh reality
• stark reality
• brutal reality
• grim reality
• bitter reality

• 👁 Image
  reality on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• irately, tearily

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛalɪtɪ]

reality f

1. inflection of realita:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Clipping of reality show, from English reality show.

reality m (plural realities)

1. (television) reality show

   Synonym: reality show

• reality in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of reality show, from English reality show.

reality m (plural realities)

1. (Brazil, television) reality show

   Synonym: reality show

Clipping of reality show, from unadapted borrowing from English reality show.

• IPA^(key): /reˈaliti/ [reˈa.li.t̪i]
• Rhymes: -aliti

reality m (plural realities or realitys)

1. (television) reality show

   Synonyms: reality show, programa de telerrealidad

   • 2021 October 26, Celia Fernández, “El activismo altruista como carne de ‘reality’”, in El País‎^[7]:

     Hace un mes fueron precisamente las protestas (digitales) las que tumbaron el estreno de The Activist, un reality estadounidense al que se acusó de querer mercantilizar el altruismo, promover la rivalidad entre causas sociales y reducir su éxito al alcance en redes de quienes defienden los derechos humanos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “reality”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “show reality” in Lexico, Oxford University Press.

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