actual


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Related to actual: Actual Cost, actual time

ac·tu·al

 (ăk′cho͞o-əl)
adj.
1.
a. Existing in reality and not potential, possible, simulated, or false: The actual damages were less than first reported. In the actual test, the mechanism did not work as the computer model predicted. See Synonyms at real1.
b. Based on fact: The actual history of the voyage is different from the popular accounts.
2. Conforming to the characteristics of a group or type; typical: Is he an actual doctor or a fake?

[Middle English, from Old French, active, from Late Latin āctuālis, from Latin āctus, past participle of agere, to drive, do; see ag- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

actual

(ˈæktʃʊəl)
adj
1. existing in reality or as a matter of fact
2. real or genuine
3. existing at the present time; current
4. (usually preceded by your) informal often facetious Brit (intensifier): that music's by your actual Mozart, isn't it?.
[C14: actuel existing, from Late Latin āctuālis relating to acts, practical, from Latin āctus act]
Usage: The excessive use of actual and actually should be avoided. They are unnecessary in sentences such as in actual fact, he is forty-two, and he did actually go to the play but did not enjoy it
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ac•tu•al

(ˈæk tʃu əl)

adj.
1. existing in act, fact, or reality; real: an actual case; the actual cost.
2. existing now; present; current: the ship's actual position.
[1275–1325; < Late Latin āctuālis= Latin āctu- (s. of āctus act) + -ālis -al1]
ac′tu•al•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

actual

1. 'actual'

You use actual to emphasize that the place, object, or person you are talking about is the real or genuine one.

The predicted results and the actual results are very different.
The interpretation bore no relation to the actual words spoken.

Be Careful!
You only use actual in front of a noun. You do not say that something 'is actual'.

2. 'current' and 'present'

You do not use 'actual' to describe something that is happening, being done, or being used at the present time. Instead you use current or present.

The store needs more than $100,000 to survive the current crisis.
Is the present situation really any different from many others in the past?
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.actual - presently existing in fact and not merely potential or possible; "the predicted temperature and the actual temperature were markedly different"; "actual and imagined conditions"
potential, possible - existing in possibility; "a potential problem"; "possible uses of nuclear power"
2.actual - taking place in reality; not pretended or imitated; "we saw the actual wedding on television"; "filmed the actual beating"
real, existent - 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!"- Longfellow
3.actual - being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of somethingactual - being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; "her actual motive"; "a literal solitude like a desert"- G.K.Chesterton; "a genuine dilemma"
true - consistent with fact or reality; not false; "the story is true"; "it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true"- B. Russell; "the true meaning of the statement"
4.actual - existing in act or fact; "rocks and trees...the actual world"; "actual heroism"; "the actual things that produced the emotion you experienced"
real, existent - 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!"- Longfellow
5.actual - being or existing at the present momentactual - being or existing at the present moment; "the ship's actual position is 22 miles due south of Key West"
current - occurring in or belonging to the present time; "current events"; "the current topic"; "current negotiations"; "current psychoanalytic theories"; "the ship's current position"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

actual

adjective
1. genuine, real, true, confirmed, authentic, verified, truthful, bona fide, dinkum (Austral & N.Z. informal) They are using local actors or the actual people involved.
genuine made-up, probable, untrue, unreal, fictitious
2. real, substantial, concrete, definite, tangible She had written some notes, but she hadn't started the actual work.
real supposed, theoretical, hypothetical
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

actual

adjective
1. Occurring or existing in act or fact:
3. In agreement or correspondence with fact:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
فِعْلِي، حَقِيقِي، رَاهِنفِعْلِيّ
skutečný
faktiskvirkelig
nykyinentämänhetkinentodellinenvarsinainen
stvaran
aktuálisfennállójelenlegiténylegesvalóságos
raunverulegur
実際の
실제의
faktiškasiš tikrųjųtiesą sakanttikrastikroviškumas
faktisksīstspatiess
resničen
faktisk
ที่จริง
gerçekgerçekte
thực sự

actual

[ˈæktjʊəl]
A. ADJ
1. (= real) → real
the actual number is much higher than thatel número real es mucho más alto
the film was based on actual eventsla película estaba basada en hechos reales
let's take an actual case/exampletomemos un caso/ejemplo concreto
there is no actual contractno hay contrato propiamente dicho
you met an actual film star?¿has conocido a una estrella de cine de verdad?
in actual facten realidad
actual sizetamaño m real
2. (= precise) [amount, figure] → exacto; [words] → exacto, textual
I don't remember the actual figuresno recuerdo las cifras exactas
what were his actual words?¿cuáles fueron sus palabras exactas or textuales?
3. (= very) they couldn't find the actual gun that was usedno encontraron el arma que se utilizó
the film used the actual people involved as actorsla película utilizó como actores a los implicados
4. (= proper) the actual wedding procession starts at elevenel desfile de boda propiamente dicho empieza a las once
on the actual day somebody will carry that for youese día alguien lo llevará por ti
B. CPD actual bodily harm N (Jur) → daños mpl físicos, lesiones fpl corporales
actual loss N (Comm) → pérdida f efectiva
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

actual

[ˈæktʃuəl] adj
(= real, genuine) [people, events] → réel(le), véritable; [number, words] → exact(e)
The film is based on actual events → Le film repose sur des faits réels.
What's the actual amount? → Quel est le montant exact?
(for emphasis)à proprement parler
The actual wedding ceremony starts at 10am → La cérémonie du mariage à proprement parler commence à 10 heures.actual bodily harm ncoups mpl et blessures fpl
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

actual

adj
eigentlich; reason, price also, resulttatsächlich; case, examplekonkret; in actual facteigentlich; what were his actual words?was genau hat er gesagt?; this is the actual housedas ist hier das Haus; there is no actual contractes besteht kein eigentlicher Vertrag; your actual (inf)ein echter/eine echte/ein echtes …, der/die/das echte; actual sizewahre Größe
(= precise)genau; I don’t remember the actual figuresich erinnere mich nicht an die genauen Zahlen
(= existing now)derzeitig; actual state or situationIst-Zustand m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

actual

[ˈæktjʊəl] adj (amount, result) → reale, vero/a, effettivo/a; (example) → concreto/a
in actual fact → in realtà
what were his actual words? → cosa ha detto esattamente?
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

actual

(ˈӕktʃuəl) adjective
real; existing; not imaginary. In actual fact he is not as stupid as you think he is.
ˌactuˈality (-ˈӕ-) noun
(a) reality. the actuality of the situation.
ˈactually adverb
1. really. She actually saw the accident happen.
2. in fact. Actually, I'm doing something else this evening.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

actual

فِعْلِيّ skutečný faktisk wirklich πραγματικός real varsinainen réel stvaran reale 実際の 실제의 daadwerkelijk faktisk rzeczywisty real фактический faktisk ที่จริง gerçek thực sự 实际的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

actual

a. actual, real, verdadero-a;
adv. en realidad, actualmente;
the ___ symptomel síntoma verdadero.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
References in classic literature ?
The President is to be the "commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States.
It presents to the author's mind, and through him to the minds of his readers, all the elements of human experience and life (drawing from his actual experience or his reading).
The chief greatness of the "Iliad" is in the character of the heroes Achilles and Hector rather than in the actual events which take place: in the Cyclic writers facts rather than character are the objects of interest, and events are so packed together as to leave no space for any exhibition of the play of moral forces.
The situation described must have occurred frequently in actual life.
In the second fragment there are added the actual notes of this person concerning certain events in his life.
From the battlefield adjutants he had sent out, and orderlies from his marshals, kept galloping up to Napoleon with reports of the progress of the action, but all these reports were false, both because it was impossible in the heat of battle to say what was happening at any given moment and because many of the adjutants did not go to the actual place of conflict but reported what they had heard from others; and also because while an adjutant was riding more than a mile to Napoleon circumstances changed and the news he brought was already becoming false.
Of one thing I felt more strongly convinced than ever, after spending this month in seeing the actual life of the coloured people, and that was that, in order to lift them up, something must be done more than merely to imitate New England education as it then existed.
"In her actual state, with her surrounding atmosphere certainly very much reduced, her seas for the most part dried up, her insufficient supply of water restricted, vegetation, sudden alternations of cold and heat, her days and nights of 354 hours-- the moon does not seem habitable to me, nor does she seem propitious to animal development, nor sufficient for the wants of existence as we understand it."
Although he sometimes dreamed sentimentally of marriage in the abstract, of actual marriage, of marriage with a flesh-and-blood individual, of marriage that involved clergymen and 'Voices that Breathe o'er Eden,' and giggling bridesmaids and cake, Dudley Pickering was afraid with a terror that woke him sweating in the night.
The same distinction marks off Tragedy from Comedy; for Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life.
White and black belong to the same genus, colour; justice and injustice, to contrary genera, virtue and vice; while good and evil do not belong to genera, but are themselves actual genera, with terms under them.
The paper is interesting as showing what were the actual experiences out of which he formed his imaginative stories.