reality check

noun

: something that clarifies or serves as a reminder of reality often by correcting a misconception

Examples of reality check in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This isn’t the first time Mau’s had to force a reality check on a show full of unreliable narrators. —Zoe Papelis, Vulture, 8 May 2025

One growing increasingly more indisputable as Claudia Pina dinks a curling effort in off Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton’s far post, putting Chelsea 3-0 down before half-time in their Champions League second-leg semi-final and the Stamford Bridge home crowd to a reality check no one wanted. —Megan Feringa, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025

But the Pistons’ record when Cunningham has gone nuclear offers a reality check. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2025

This is all a reality check, whether McIlroy likes to admit it or not. —Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for reality check

• aztec
• breakneck
• codec
• exec
• mixtec
• paycheck
• pinchbeck
• recheck
• redneck
• toltec
• beck
• breck