actualadjective [ before noun ]
uk/ˈæk.tʃu.əl/us/ˈæk.tʃu.əl/B2 existing in fact:
We had estimated about 300 visitors, but the actual number was much higher.
The exams are in July, but the actual results (= the results themselves) don't appear until September.
Synonym
real
in actual fact
B2 really:
I thought she was Portuguese, but in actual fact she's Brazilian.
More examples
- I often prefer the ads on TV to the actual programmes.
- The documentary was a misrepresentation of the truth and bore little resemblance to actual events.
- The actual signing of the treaty was a downbeat affair without any ceremony.
- Their predictions were hopelessly out of line with the actual results.
- He said he went to Florida for medical treatment, but in actual fact he was trying to escape from the British police.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
True, real, false, and unreal
- actuality
- actually
- all that glitters is not gold idiom
- apocryphal
- at heart idiom
- faithful
- false
- falsely
- fictional
- fictitious
- glitter
- gritty
- nominal
- pretend
- proper
- properly
- properly speaking idiom
- pukka
- realistic
- well founded
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