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Imaginary vs. Real: What's the Difference?

Imaginary and Real Definitions

Imaginary

Having existence only in the imagination; unreal.

Real

Being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verifiable existence
Real objects.
A real illness.

Imaginary

Of or being the coefficient of the imaginary unit in a complex number.

Real

True and actual; not imaginary, alleged, or ideal
Real people, not ghosts.
A film based on real life.

Imaginary

Of, involving, or being an imaginary number.
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Real

Of or founded on practical matters and concerns
A recent graduate experiencing the real world for the first time.

Imaginary

Involving only a complex number of which the real part is zero.

Real

Genuine and authentic; not artificial or spurious
Real mink.
Real humility.

Imaginary

An imaginary number.

Real

Being no less than what is stated; worthy of the name
A real friend.
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Imaginary

Existing only in the imagination.
Unicorns are imaginary.

Real

Free of pretense, falsehood, or affectation
Tourists hoping for a real experience on the guided tour.

Imaginary

Having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of \sqrt{-1} (called imaginary unit).

Real

Not to be taken lightly; serious
In real trouble.

Imaginary

Imagination; fancy.

Real

(Philosophy) Existing objectively in the world regardless of subjectivity or conventions of thought or language.

Imaginary

(mathematics) An imaginary quantity.

Real

Relating to, being, or having value reckoned by actual purchasing power
Real income.
Real growth.

Imaginary

(sociology) The set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society through which people imagine their social whole.

Real

(Physics) Of, relating to, or being an image formed by light rays that converge in space.

Imaginary

Existing only in imagination or fancy; not real; fancied; visionary; ideal.
Wilt thou add to all the griefs I sufferImaginary ills and fancied tortures?

Real

(Mathematics) Of, relating to, or being a real number.

Imaginary

An imaginary expression or quantity.

Real

(Law) Of or relating to stationary or fixed property, such as buildings or land.

Imaginary

Not based on fact; dubious;
The falsehood about some fanciful secret treaties
A small child's imaginary friends
Her imagined fame
To create a notional world for oneself

Real

Very
I'm real sorry about that.

Real

A thing or whole having actual existence. Often used with the
Theories beyond the realm of the real.

Real

(Mathematics) A real number.

Real

A silver coin formerly used in Spain and Latin America.

Real

A unit of currency formerly used in Portugal.

Real

See Table at currency.

Real

True, genuine, not merely nominal or apparent.

Real

Genuine, not artificial, counterfeit, or fake.
This is real leather.

Real

Genuine, unfeigned, sincere.
These are real tears!

Real

Actually being, existing, or occurring; not fictitious or imaginary.
A description of real life

Real

That has objective, physical existence.
No one has ever seen a real unicorn.

Real

(economics) Having been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation; measured in purchasing power contrast nominal.
My dad calculated my family's real consumption per month.
What is the real GNP of this polity?

Real

(economics) Relating to the result of the actions of rational agents; relating to neoclassical economic models as opposed to Keynesian models.

Real

Being either a rational number, or the limit of a convergent infinite sequence of rational numbers: being one of a set of numbers with a one-to-one correspondence to the points on a line.

Real

(legal) Relating to immovable tangible property.
Real estate;
Real property

Real

Absolute, complete, utter.
This is a real problem.

Real

(slang) Signifying meritorious qualities or actions especially as regard the enjoyment of life, prowess at sports, or success wooing potential partners.
I'm keeping it real.

Real

Really, very.
When I told him the truth, he got real mad.

Real

A commodity; see realty.

Real

(grammar) One of the three genders that the common gender can be separated into in the Scandinavian languages.

Real

(mathematics) A real number.

Real

(obsolete) A realist.

Real

Former unit of currency of Spain and Spain's colonies.

Real

A coin worth one real.

Real

A unit of currency used in Portugal and its colonies from 1430 until 1911, and in Brazil from 1790 until 1942.

Real

A coin worth one real.

Real

A unit of currency used in Brazil since 1994. Symbol: R$.

Real

A coin worth one real.

Real

A former small Spanish silver coin; also, a denomination of money of account, formerly the unit of the Spanish monetary system.

Real

A realist.

Real

Royal; regal; kingly.

Real

Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life.
Whereat I waked, and foundBefore mine eyes all real, as the dreamHad lively shadowed.

Real

True; genuine; not artificial, counterfeit, or factitious; often opposed to ostensible; as, the real reason; real Madeira wine; real ginger.
Whose perfection far excelledHers in all real dignity.

Real

Relating to things, not to persons.
Many are perfect in men's humors that are not greatly capable of the real part of business.

Real

Having an assignable arithmetical or numerical value or meaning; not imaginary.

Real

Pertaining to things fixed, permanent, or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as, real property, in distinction from personal or movable property.
For he that but conceives a crime in thought,Contracts the danger of an actual fault.
Our simple ideas are all real; all agree to the reality of things.

Real

Any rational or irrational number

Real

An old small silver Spanish coin

Real

Being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory;
Real objects
Real people; not ghosts
A film based on real life
A real illness
Real humility
Life is real! Life is earnest!

Real

No less than what is stated; worthy of the name;
The real reason
Real war
A real friend
A real woman
Meat and potatoes--I call that a real meal
It's time he had a real job
It's no penny-ante job--he's making real money

Real

Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something;
Her actual motive
A literal solitude like a desert
A genuine dilemma

Real

Not synthetic or spurious; of real or natural origin;
Real mink
True gold

Real

Not to be taken lightly;
Statistics demonstrate that poverty and unemployment are very real problems
To the man sleeping regularly in doorways homelessness is real

Real

Possible to be treated as fact;
Tangible evidence
His brief time as Prime Minister brought few real benefits to the poor

Real

Being value measured in terms of purchasing power;
Real prices
Real income
Real wages

Real

Having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary;
The substantial world
A mere dream, neither substantial nor practical
Most ponderous and substantial things

Real

(of property) fixed or immovable;
Real property consists of land and buildings; real estate

Real

Coinciding with reality;
Perceptual error...has a surprising resemblance to veridical perception

Real

Founded on practical matters;
A recent graduate experiencing the real world for the first time

Real

Used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal;
She was very gifted
He played very well
A really enjoyable evening
I'm real sorry about it
A rattling good yarn

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