reality check
"reality-check" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reality check” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A check or review to make sure something is consistent, reasonable, etc.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | reality check |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reality check” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
reality check is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
reality check doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is reality check, spelled R-E-A-L-I-T-Y- -C-H-E-C-K.
Definition
- 1A check or review to make sure something is consistent, reasonable, etc.
- 2A wake-up call; a reminder.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “reality check”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-A-L-I-T-Y- -C-H-E-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.