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

The book draws on research and real-world examples across multiple fields to make that case. — Wyles Daniel, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026

Safer ship designs A digital twin is a virtual model that mirrors a real-world physical object, system, or process using live data. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026

Dune reports that the total supply of tokenized real-world assets has exceeded $34 billion in 2026, and major categories—including cash equivalents and commodities—have more than doubled over the past year. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2026

At the same time, samples provided to journalists contain enough real-world information to make the situation difficult to dismiss. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for real-world

• lifeworld
• unfurled
• curled
• furled
• hurled
• knurled
• swirled
• twirled
• whirled
• whorled
• world
• netherworld