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

Jessie, with the help of Woody and Buzz, sets off to help Bonnie make some real-world friends. — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 26 June 2026

The spooky thing is that this pops up all over the place in real-world settings. — Quanta Magazine, 25 June 2026

Enterprises are pouring billions into AI initiatives, yet a growing share of these models are failing not because the algorithms are flawed, but because the data feeding them lacks the nuance to handle real-world edge cases. — Anjana Susarla, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

The initiative serves as a real-world demonstration of embodied AI, showing how humanoid robots can interact with people, assist learning environments, and potentially support future educational applications. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 25 June 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