real-world

adjective

ˈrē(-ə)l-ˈwər(-ə)ld 

: 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

These differences don't give the S24 a massive real-world advantage, however. —PCMAG, 25 May 2024

Makers of violent video games have survived previous efforts to link them to real-world violence based on the graphic content of their games. —J. David Goodman, New York Times, 24 May 2024

Blanton said the learning space is designed to prepare students by mirroring real-world nursing scenarios. —Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024

The ventures are a powerful source of data and a chance to give people a taste of real-world experimentation. —Jasper Davidoff, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above