reality

/ɹiːˈælɪti/

//ɹiːˈælɪti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"reality" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“reality” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,375. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,375
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being actual or real; realness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-reality · reality · English

reality · rank #1,375 · 10 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,375
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH plant

Nearest frequency peer: plant (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “reality”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “reality” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

reality vs really
71% similar
reality vs realty
86% similar
reality vs realize
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for reality
PropertyValue
Headwordreality
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹiːˈælɪti/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,375
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “reality”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).realitylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “plant” (#1,374), “smith” (#1,376), “parties” (#1,373). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “reality” is #1,375. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around reality (IPA /ɹiːˈælɪti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,375 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for reality, with forms such as "erality", "raelity", and "reailty". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "really", "realty", "realize", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real + -ity. Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixed property… The correct English form is reality, spelled R-E-A-L-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being actual or real; realness.
  2. 2
    The real world.
  3. 3
    A real entity, event, or other fact.
  4. 4
    The entirety of all that is real.
  5. 5
    An individual observer's own subjective perception of that which is real.
  6. 6
    Loyalty; devotion.
  7. 7
    Realty; real estate.
  8. 8
    Reality television.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how reality appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The reality of the crash scene on TV dawned upon him only when he saw the victim was no actor but his friend.
  2. While the SCP universe is, of course, filled with things that we would certainly not consider "real", most of the SCPs are tangible or perceivable in some way. There are those concepts, however, whose reality is debatable, even to the SCP Foundation, begging them to ask the question of what, exactly, is real.

Etymology

From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real + -ity. Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixed property” (compare real estate, realty); the sense “real existence” is attested from 1647. First attested in c. 1540.

Synonyms

truthactuality

Antonyms

fantasy

This word in other languages

realidad(Español)réalité(Français)Wirklichkeit(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erality
  • raelity
  • reailty
  • realitty
  • realityy
  • realiyt
  • reallity
  • realtiy
  • relaity
  • rreality

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reality - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

erality2raelity2reailty2realitty1realityy1realiyt2reallity1realtiy2
Edit distance from "reality"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "reality"?
"reality" is spelled R-E-A-L-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹiːˈælɪti/.
What does "reality" mean?
As a noun, "reality" means: The state of being actual or real; realness.
What words are commonly confused with "reality"?
"reality" is commonly confused with "really", "realty", "realize". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "reality"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "reality" is /ɹiːˈælɪti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "reality"?
From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real + -ity. Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixe... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reality", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

parties#1,373holding#1,368explain#1,365effects#1,364

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

highly10 variantscaptain10 variantsplanning10 variantsmachine10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list