in reality or actuality; "in fact, it was a wonder anyone survived"; "painters who are in fact anything but unsophisticated"; "as a matter of fact, he is several inches taller than his father"
used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly; "you may actually be doing the right thing by walking out"; "she actually spoke Latin"; "they thought they made the rules but in reality they were only puppets"; "people who seem stand-offish are in reality often simply nervous"
used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal; "she was very gifted"; "he played very well"; "a really enjoyable evening"; "I'm real sorry about it"; "a rattling good yarn"
in fact (used as intensifiers or sentence modifiers); "in truth, moral decay hastened the decline of the Roman Empire"; "really, you shouldn't have done it"; "a truly awful book"