real1

adjective

• 1actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed:Julius Caesar was a real person her many illnesses, real and imaginary
• used to emphasize the significance or seriousness of a situation:there is a real danger of civil war the competitive threat from overseas is very real
• Philosophy relating to something as it is, not merely as it may be described or distinguished: Locke’s distinction between the real and nominal essence of substances

• 2(of a thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine:the earring was presumably real gold
• true or actual:his real name is James this isn’t my real reason for coming
• [attributive] rightly so called; proper:he’s my idea of a real man

• 3 [attributive] informal complete; utter (used for emphasis):the tour turned out to be a real disaster

• 4 [attributive] adjusted for changes in the value of money; assessed by purchasing power:real incomes had fallen by 30 per cent an increase in real terms of 11.6 per cent

• 5 Mathematics (of a number or quantity) having no imaginary part. See imaginary.

• 6 Optics (of an image) of a kind in which the light that forms it actually passes through it; not virtual.

adverb

• really; very:my head hurts real bad