actual

adjective

ac·​tu·​al ˈak-ch(ə-w)əl 

-sh(ə-w)əl;

-chü-əl,

-shü-

1

a

: existing in fact or reality

actual events

actual and imagined conditions

b

: not false or apparent

actual costs

c

—used for emphasis

This is the actual room in which my grandfather was born.

2

: existing or occurring at the time

caught in the actual commission of a crime

3

obsolete : active

Synonyms

• concrete
• de facto
• effective
• existent
• factual
• genuine
• real
• sure-enough
• true
• very

Examples of actual in a Sentence

They signed the agreement in the spring, but the actual sale wasn't made until that summer.

You deposit money in a bank account but the actual money is not held there.

The actual cost of the repair was much higher than the estimate.

Recent Examples on the Web

This is an exuberant, visually stylish imagining of soccer that, say some critics who played the beta preview, gets tantalizingly close to the pure physical joy of kicking an actual soccer ball around with your friends. —Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 23 May 2025

But the whole point of the series is that Oscar can get away with this as there is no actual evidence. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office, who has yet to track down the actual suspect, vowed in its statement that its investigators still hope to crack the 1995 murder case one day. —Sean Neumann, People.com, 23 May 2025

Watching actual bodies and objects moving through space (the air or water) is literal-minded rather than fantastic in the ways that made silent movie masters Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin funny and sublime. —Armond White, National Review, 23 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "active, existing in fact," borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French actuel, borrowed from Late Latin āctuālis, from Latin āctus act entry 1 + -ālis -al entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing actual

• actual cash value
• in actual fact

Kids Definition

actual

adjective

ac·​tu·​al ˈak-ch(ə-w)əl 

ˈak-sh(ə-w)əl

: existing in fact and not merely as a possibility

actuality

ˌak-chə-ˈwal-ət-ē

-shə-

noun

actualization

ˈak-ch(ə-w)ə-lə-ˈzā-shən

-sh(ə-w)ə-

noun

actualize

-ˌīz

verb

Legal Definition

actual

adjective

ac·​tu·​al

: existing in fact or reality compare constructive

actually adverb