for real

See also: for-real

English

Alternative forms

• fr (abbreviation)
• for-real (usually used only in the comparative or superlative)

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

for real (comparative more for real, superlative most for real)

1. (informal) Genuine, true; serious, earnest.

   Is his story for real?

   • 1968 September 6, “Outreach in the inner city makes library 'for real'”, in Christian Science Monitor:

     […] demonstration sponsored by the library may make the library more' "for real" to the inner-city person

   • 1971, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”, performed by The Dramatics:

     Some people / Are up to no good, ah / But baby, I'm for real / I'm as real as real can get

   • 1996, “Wannabe”, in Spice, performed by Spice Girls:

     Oh, what do you think about that / Now you know how I feel / Say you could handle my love, are you for real?

Translations

genuine, true or natural

• Catalan: de debò (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 真實／真实 (zh) (zhēnshí)

• Esperanto: ĉu vere?
• Finnish: aito (fi), tosi (fi), totta (fi)
• French: pour de vrai (fr) (familiar), véridique (fr) m or f
• German: wahr (de), wirklich (de), wahrhaftig (de), real (de), (eine) Realität
• Japanese: マジ
• Spanish: ¿de veras?
• Swedish: riktig (sv), korrekt (sv), sann (sv), på riktigt
• Turkish: gerçek (tr), gerçekten (tr), cidden (tr), vallahi (tr)
• Turkish: gerçek (tr)

Adverb

for real (not comparable)

1. Genuinely, truly.

   This recipe takes two hours to cook, for real!

Synonyms

• earnestly; see also Thesaurus:honestly

Antonyms

• for fake (humorous)

Translations

truly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 真的 (zh) (zhēn de)

• Esperanto: vere
• Finnish: oikeasti (fi), todella (fi)
• French: bien sûr (fr), vraiment (fr)
• German: wirklich (de), ernsthaft (de), im Ernst
• Polish: autentyk (pl) (colloquial)
• Romanian: pe bune
• Spanish: ¿de veras?
• Swedish: på riktigt
• Turkish: gerçekten (tr), cidden (tr), baya (tr), baya (tr)

Derived terms

• for real and for true
• for reals (slang)
• for realsies (slang)