real

The word “real” means actually existing or happening, rather than imagined, fictional, or invented. In plain terms, actually existing, true, or genuine, as opposed to fake, imagined, or pretend.

“Real” is pronounced reel (/ˈɹi.əl/ in IPA).

Here is “real” used in a sentence: “The story is based on real events.”

Words with a similar meaning to “real” include true, actual, authentic, genuine, heartfelt and based.

The opposite of “real” — its antonyms — are imaginary, nonreal, unreal, artificial and counterfeit.

Depending on how it is used, “real” can be an adjective and an adverb.

The word “real” comes from Late Latin. From Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis ("actual"), ultimately from Latin res ("thing, matter").

“Real” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

'Real' means something actually exists in the physical or factual world, as opposed to imaginary or invented — a real person, a real diamond. 'True' means something is accurate or correct, matching the facts — a true statement. An object is real; a claim about it is true or false.

'Real' means genuine and actually what it appears to be; 'fake' means imitation, forged, or false. A real signature was written by the person themselves, while a fake one is a copy meant to deceive. The pair sits at opposite ends of the same scale, from authentic to counterfeit.

'Real' has several opposites depending on context. Something not real can be imaginary, fictional, or made up; an object can be fake, artificial, or counterfeit; a situation can be virtual or hypothetical. What unites them is that they do not actually exist in the way real things do.

A real event is one that genuinely happened, like a historical battle, as opposed to a scene in a novel. Real gold is the actual metal, not gold-coloured plastic. In each case 'real' confirms that the thing exists in fact rather than in imagination or imitation.