From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Reality \Re*al"i*ty\ (r[-e]*[a^]l"[i^]*t[y^]), noun; pl. {Realities} (-t[i^]z). [Cf. F. r['e]alit['e], LL. realitas. See 3d {Real}, and cf. 2d {Realty}.]
1. The state or quality of being real; actual being or existence of anything, in distinction from mere appearance; fact.
A man fancies that he understands a critic, when in reality he does not comprehend his meaning. --Addison.
2. That which is real; an actual existence; that which is not imagination, fiction, or pretense; that which has objective existence, and is not merely an idea.
And to realities yield all her shows. --Milton.
My neck may be an idea to you, but it is a reality to me. --Beattie.
3. [See 1st {Realty}, 2.] Loyalty; devotion. [Obs.]
To express our reality to the emperor. --Fuller.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you; "his world was shattered"; "we live in different worlds"; "for them demons were as much a part of reality as trees were" [syn: {world}]
2: the state of being actual or real; "the reality of his situation slowly dawned on him" [syn: {realness}, {realism}] [ant: {unreality}]
3: the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be; "businessmen have to face harsh realities"
4: the quality possessed by something that is real [ant: {unreality}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
63 Moby Thesaurus words for "reality": accomplished fact, actuality, adventure, authenticity, circumstance, confirmability, demonstratability, doubtlessness, entelechy, episode, eternal verities, event, experience, fact, factuality, fait accompli, genuineness, good sooth, grim reality, hap, happening, happenstance, historical truth, historicity, in reality, incident, incontestability, incontrovertibility, indisputability, indubitability, indubitableness, irrefragability, irrefutability, materiality, matter of fact, not a dream, objective existence, occasion, occurrence, particular, phenomenon, provability, questionlessness, really, sooth, the true, trueness, truth, truthfulness, turn of events, ultimate truth, unconfutability, undeniability, unerroneousness, unfallaciousness, unfalseness, unimpeachability, unquestionability, unrefutability, veracity, verifiability, verity, very truth
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
REALITY, noun The dream of a mad philosopher. That which would remain in the cupel if one should assay a phantom. The nucleus of a vacuum.
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