realityEnglishOxford American Thesaurusreality noun 1 he is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality: the real world, real life, actuality; truth; physical existence, corporeality, substantiality, materiality. ▷antonyms fantasy. 2 the harsh realities of life: fact, actuality, truth, verity. 3 the reality of Marryat's detail: verisimilitude, authenticity, realism, fidelity, faithfulness. ▷antonyms idealism. □ in realityshe sounded sympathetic but in reality she was furious: in fact, in actual fact, in point of fact, as a matter of fact, actually, really, in truth, if truth be told; in practice; archaic in sooth.