# reality
## English
### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɹiˈælɪti/, /ɹiˈæləti/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ælɪti

### Noun

reality (usually uncountable, plural realities)
* 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, 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.
* 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.
* A real entity, event, or other fact.
    The ultimate reality of life is that it ends in death.
** 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, 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.
** 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, 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 […].
* 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!
* An individual observer's own subjective perception of that which is real.
* (obsolete) Loyalty; devotion.
** 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC:To express our reality to the emperor.
* (law, obsolete) Realty; real estate.
* (broadcasting, attributive) Reality television.
    a foray into reality programming

#### Synonyms

* truth
* actuality

#### Antonyms

* fantasy

#### Hyponyms

* absolute reality
* augmented reality
* consensus reality
* hybrid reality
* mixed reality
* real reality
* virtual reality

#### Derived terms

* alternate reality game
* bite of the reality sandwich
* break reality
* disreality
* extended reality
* in reality
* mugged by reality
* new reality
* online reality game
* reality-based
* reality bender
* reality challenged
* reality check
* reality distortion field
* reality mining
* reality pornography
* reality principle
* reality shifter
* reality show
* reality television
* reality testing
* reality therapy
* reality TV
* reality warper
* reality warping
* the reality is

#### Related terms

* realia
* realism
* realization
* realize
* realty

#### Collocations

* harsh reality
* stark reality
* brutal reality
* grim reality
* bitter reality

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Further reading

* reality on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* irately, tearily

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈrɛalɪtɪ]

### Noun

reality f
* inflection of realita:
** genitive singular
** nominative/accusative/vocative plural

## Italian
### Etymology

Clipping of reality show, from English reality show.

### Noun

reality m (plural realities)
* (television) reality show
    Synonym: reality show

### Further reading

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

## Portuguese
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ʁeˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [heˈa.li.t͡ʃi], /ʁiˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [hɪˈa.li.t͡ʃi], (faster pronunciation) /ˈʁja.li.t͡ʃi/ [ˈhja.li.t͡ʃi]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ʁeˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [heˈa.li.t͡ʃi], /ʁiˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [hɪˈa.li.t͡ʃi], (faster pronunciation) /ˈʁja.li.t͡ʃi/ [ˈhja.li.t͡ʃi]
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /ʁeˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [χeˈa.li.t͡ʃi], /ʁiˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [χɪˈa.li.t͡ʃi], (faster pronunciation) /ˈʁja.li.t͡ʃi/ [ˈχja.li.t͡ʃi]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ʁeˈa.li.t͡ʃi/ [heˈa.li.t͡ʃi]

### Noun

reality m (plural realities)
* (Brazil, television) reality show
    Synonym: reality show

## Spanish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /reˈaliti/ [reˈa.li.t̪i]
* Rhymes: -aliti
* Syllabification: re‧a‧li‧ty

### Noun

reality m (plural realities or realitys)
* (television) reality show
    Synonyms: reality show, programa de telerrealidad
** 2021 October 26, Celia Fernández, “El activismo altruista como carne de ‘reality’”, in El País‎: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)

#### Usage notes

* 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.

### Further reading

* “reality”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
* “show reality” in Lexico, Oxford University Press.