real-world

adjective

ˈrē(-ə)l-ˈwər(-ə)ld 

: existing or occurring in reality : drawn from or drawing on actual events or situations : real-life

a real-world example

… the complex relationship between a word and the real-world thing it labels.

—Jean Aitchison

Digital objects aren't bound by the same constraints as real-world objects—that is, broadly speaking, the whole point of digital objects—but they're often made to look like real-world objects anyway.

—Lev Grossman

… combine the rigors of academics with the soothing realities of real-world applications.

—Ricardo Bilton

The paintings are essentially abstract, but they don't feel abstract. They feature, besides passages of figurative drawing, a real-world aura …

—Peter Schjeldahl

Examples of real-world in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sometimes, Black Twitter combined its influence in both spheres to produce real-world change. —Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 13 May 2024

That real-world range might top every electric SUV sold in America, and trail only a pair of sedans, the Lucid Air and Mercedes’ own EQS. —IEEE Spectrum, 13 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above