| / English Dictionary |
ACTUAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Presently existing in fact and not merely potential or possible
Example:
actual and imagined conditions
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
effective (existing in fact; not theoretical; real)
Attribute:
actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)
Antonym:
potential (existing in possibility)
Derivation:
actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)
actualize (represent or describe realistically)
actualize (make real or concrete; give reality or substance to)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Being or existing at the present moment
Example:
the ship's actual position is 22 miles due south of Key West
Classified under:
Similar:
current (occurring in or belonging to the present time)
Derivation:
actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Taking place in reality; not pretended or imitated
Example:
filmed the actual beating
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)
Derivation:
actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)
actualize (make real or concrete; give reality or substance to)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Existing in act or fact
Example:
the actual things that produced the emotion you experienced
Synonyms:
actual; factual
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)
Derivation:
actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)
actualize (represent or describe realistically)
actualize (make real or concrete; give reality or substance to)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something
Example:
a genuine dilemma
Synonyms:
actual; genuine; literal; real
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
true (consistent with fact or reality; not false)
Context examples:
A condition due to lack of oxygen in respired air, resulting in impending or actual cessation of life.
(Asphyxia, Food and Drug Administration)
The actual number of such events is no doubt higher.
(Study Predicts Next Global Dust Storm on Mars, NASA)
That model closely predicted the asteroid’s actual shape, with Bennu’s diameter, rotation rate, inclination, and overall shape presented almost exactly as projected.
(NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Discovers Water on Asteroid, NASA)
An additional 1,327 candidates are more likely than not to be actual planets, but they do not meet the 99 percent threshold and will require additional study.
(Kepler Mission Announces Largest Collection of Planets Ever Discovered, NASA)
'The reactions resulted mostly in strings that were closer to today's actual proteins and less in chains that included non-biological amino acids.
(Pre-life building blocks spontaneously align in evolutionary experiment, National Science Foundation)
This year you can buy actual gifts and beautifully wrap them before you give them to friends and family.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
This figure, of the corner hoodlum, he saw merge into himself, sitting and talking with an actual university professor.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It is, in short, impossible for us to conjecture the causes or circumstances which may have alienated them, without actual blame on either side.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
'Careful examination of the actual inspection strategies used by animals might reveal that they often employ active scanning behaviors as shortcuts to simplify complex visual pattern discrimination tasks,'
(Scientists Discover Bees Can Count Using Only Four Brain Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Using established relations between the magnetic activity and X-ray emission of stars, as well as its actual age, researchers determined WASP-18 is about 100 times less active than it should be.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
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