real

1 adjective

1 NOT ARTIFICIAL something that is real is actually what it seems to be and not false, artificial or pretended: Is that ring made of real gold? | He calls himself Peter Jones, but it's not his real name. | He's never shown any real regret. | the real thing/the real McCoy: I don't like reproductions. It has to be the real thing or nothing. | This is the real McCoy - genuine malt whisky.

2 NOT IMAGINARY actually existing and not just imagined: The children know that Santa Claus isn't a real person. | very real danger/possibility/risk etc: There is a very real danger of an explosion. | in real life: That kind of thing only happens in films, not in real life. | in the real world (=in actual situations where people have to deal with practical problems): idealistic theories that don't work in the real world

3 TRUE actual and true, not what people think or say: John later told me the real reason for his absence.

4 PROPER (only before noun) having all the right qualities that you expect a particular kind of thing or person to have: Now he's what I'd call a real man. | The next day we had our first real meeting.

5 a real idiot/beauty/disaster etc spoken used to emphasize how stupid, beautiful, terrible etc someone or something is: You're a real idiot! | Our marriage was a real disaster! | Thanks - you've been a real help.

6 no real chance/hope/reason etc if there is no real chance etc, there is almost no chance: There's no real hope of Rod passing this examination..

7 MOST IMPORTANT the real questions, problems etc are the most important ones: The government has failed to deal with the real issues.

8 real income/costs/value etc income etc that is calculated after including in the calculation the general decrease in the value of money: a 2% annual growth in real income | in real terms (=calculated in this way): In real terms, the value of their wages has fallen.

9 for real spoken, especially AmE seriously, not pretending: After two trial runs we did it for real.

10 get real! spoken, especially AmE used to tell someone that they are being very silly or unreasonable

11 are you for real? AmE spoken used when you are very surprised by or disapprove of what someone has done or said

2 adverb AmE spoken very: I'm real sorry! | He's real smart.