(realities)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ to refer to real things or the real nature of things rather than imagined, invented, or theoretical ideas.
Fiction and ~ were increasingly blurred...
N-UNCOUNT
see also virtual ~
2.
The ~ of a situation is the truth about it, especially when it is unpleasant or difficult to deal with.
...the harsh ~ of top international competition...
N-COUNT: usu the N of n
3.
You say that something has become a ~ when it actually exists or is actually happening.
...the whole procedure that made this book become a ~...
N-SING
4.
You can use in ~ to introduce a statement about the real nature of something, when it contrasts with something incorrect that has just been described.
He came across as streetwise, but in ~ he was not.
PHRASE: PHR with cl