in real life
idiom
: in a real situation : in actual existence
We can laugh at things in movies that would scare us in real life.
Examples of in real life in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The beef, which started in 1999, has spawned almost three decades of diss tracks and battles in real life and on social media.
—
Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
Around the edge of the room, different tables stood in for the panoply of systems and services that each family was to navigate – a workplace, social services, a school, a homeless shelter, a bank, and other agencies all staffed by people who previously faced poverty or homelessness in real life.
—Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Celebrity kisses are always a hot topic for these three – in movies or in real life.
—Susan Spencer, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
The fact that this was a purely hypothetical exercise wasn’t lost on Larionov, who doesn’t have to actually sweat out his omissions the way USA GM Bill Guerin or Canada GM Doug Armstrong and Sweden head coach Sam Hallam have in real life.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2026
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Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
Around the edge of the room, different tables stood in for the panoply of systems and services that each family was to navigate – a workplace, social services, a school, a homeless shelter, a bank, and other agencies all staffed by people who previously faced poverty or homelessness in real life.
—Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Celebrity kisses are always a hot topic for these three – in movies or in real life.
—Susan Spencer, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
The fact that this was a purely hypothetical exercise wasn’t lost on Larionov, who doesn’t have to actually sweat out his omissions the way USA GM Bill Guerin or Canada GM Doug Armstrong and Sweden head coach Sam Hallam have in real life.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for in real life
Cite this Entry
“In real life.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20real%20life. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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