reality
[noun]
Synonyms: truth, actuality, fact, realism, validity, verity

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

re‧al‧i‧ty S2 W2 /riˈæləti, riˈælɪti/ noun (plural realities)
[Word Family: noun: realism, realist, reality, unreality, realization; adverb: real, really, realistically ≠ unrealistically; adjective: real, unreal, realistic ≠ unrealistic; verb: realize]

1. [uncountable and countable] 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 realities
harsh/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.

2. in 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 reality

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

reality
noun
ADJ. awful, bitter, brutal, cold, grim, hard, harsh, painful, sad, stark We were faced with the awful reality of having nowhere to live.
complex | underlying He has no illusions about the underlying reality of army life.
objective, practical the practical realities of running a children's home
daily, everyday | external Painters at the time were largely concerned with reproducing external reality.
commercial, economic, historical, physical, political, psychological, social the harsh economic realities of life as a student
virtual the use of virtual reality in computer games
VERB + REALITY become One day her dream will become a reality.
make sth It's our task to make the proposals a reality.
accept, confront (sb with), face (up to), get a grip on, grasp, wake up to She will have to face reality sooner or later. I don't think you have quite grasped the realities of our situation!
bear little/no, etc. relation/resemblance to, be cut off/divorced/removed from, be out of touch with, have little/not have much to do with They are out of touch with the realities of modern warfare. Most people's ideas of the disease do not have much to do with the reality.
escape from | deny, ignore | bring sb back to, come/get back to, return to He called for the committee to stop dreaming and return to reality.
distort Most comedy relies on distorting reality.
protect/shelter/shield sb from Her parents always tried to shield her from the realities of the world.
reflect
PREP. in ~ The media portray her as happy and successful, but in reality she has a difficult life.
PHRASES a grasp of reality He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.
a perception/sense of reality

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

reality

the 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.
face 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.
a 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.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲