: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
While the tanks roll down Constitution Avenue and the legal battle proceeds, the real-world risk is that Trump will seize on the threat of being thwarted by the judiciary once again to take the far more consequential step of invoking the Insurrection Act. Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 14 June 2025 In one real-world deployment, Lumana’s system flagged a possible assault after detecting unusual body language and close proximity between two men and a pair of unattended drinks, prompting an alert that allowed staff to step in before anything escalated. Kolawole Samuel Adebayo, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025 Bass has been quicker to respond this time around, announcing a nightly curfew for downtown, warning of consequences for those who vandalize or commit violence and spelling out the real-world impacts of the ICE arrests on her constituents. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025 Despite some of the claims from opponents of offshore wind, there are no real-world examples of offshore wind negatively impacting tourism. Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 13 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for real-world

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of real-world was in 1963

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Cite this Entry

“Real-world.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/real-world. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.

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