actuality
ac·tu·al·i·ty
/ˌækʧəˈwæləti/ noun , pl -ties
1 [ noncount ] : the quality or state of being actual or real
It was hard to accept the actuality [=reality] of the disease.
2 [ count ] : something that is actual or real
the actualities [=realities] of war
The actuality was quite different from the theory.
in actuality
: in truth
— used to stress that something is true when it is different from what was believed or expected
He gave me what turned out to be, in actuality [=in reality, in fact], only a copy of the original.
I thought they just arrived, but in actuality they'd been here for an hour.
