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

Chief executive Samar Abbas argued in the announcement that agentic AI stalls because the surrounding systems cannot handle real-world execution, not because the models are weak. — Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026

The models were being tested against the ExploitGym benchmark, an independent testing suite based on hundreds of real-world security vulnerabilities. — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 22 July 2026

That can translate into real-world risk, to critical infrastructure like utilities and financial systems. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 22 July 2026

Microagi, which is coming off a $55 million seed funding round, collects real-world training footage in more than a dozen countries and consults with companies on deploying robots in their factories. — J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 22 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for real-world

• lifeworld
• unfurled
• curled
• furled
• hurled
• knurled
• swirled
• twirled
• whirled
• whorled
• world
• netherworld