real life

1. Life outside of a contrived or fantastical environment; often used in comparison to events depicted in drama.
2. A person or thing that exists in reality (vs. fictional).
   • 2011, Julia DeVillers, Jennifer Roy, Take Two:

     I knew it was just a silly quiz, but it was annoying that I couldn't even get a crush match in a magazine—or real life.

3. (by extension, sometimes capitalized) Life outside the Internet.
4. (by extension) Pressing day-to-day commitments.

   I kept meaning to look for a better-paying job, but real life intervened.

• French: vie réelle, vraie vie
• German: wirkliches Leben, Reallife
• Italian: vita reale
• Portuguese: vida real
• Russian: реальная жизнь
• Spanish: vida real