Nominal vs. Real — What's the Difference?

(of a role or status) existing in name only

Actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed

(of a price or charge) very small; far below the real value or cost

(of a thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine

(of a quantity or dimension) stated or expressed but not necessarily corresponding exactly to the real value

Complete; utter (used for emphasis)

Relating to or functioning as a noun

Adjusted for changes in the value of money; assessed by purchasing power

(chiefly in the context of space travel) functioning normally or acceptably.

(of a number or quantity) having no imaginary part.

Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.

(of an image) of a kind in which the light that forms it actually passes through it; not virtual.

Assigned to or bearing a person's name

Really; very

Existing in name only; not real

The basic monetary unit of Brazil since 1994, equal to 100 centavos.

Insignificantly small; trifling

Being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verifiable existence

(Philosophy) Of or relating to nominalism.

True and actual; not imaginary, alleged, or ideal

(Economics) Of or relating to an amount or rate that is not adjusted for inflation.

Of or founded on practical matters and concerns

(Business) Of or relating to the par value of a security rather than the market value.

Genuine and authentic; not artificial or spurious

(Grammar) Of or relating to a noun or word group that functions as a noun.

Being no less than what is stated; worthy of the name

Aerospace & Engineering According to plan or design

Free of pretense, falsehood, or affectation

A word or group of words functioning as a noun.

Not to be taken lightly; serious

Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.

(Philosophy) Existing objectively in the world regardless of subjectivity or conventions of thought or language.

Assigned to or bearing a person's name.

Relating to, being, or having value reckoned by actual purchasing power

Existing in name only.

(Physics) Of, relating to, or being an image formed by light rays that converge in space.

(philosophy) Of or relating to nominalism.

(Mathematics) Of, relating to, or being a real number.

Insignificantly small.

(Law) Of or relating to stationary or fixed property, such as buildings or land.

Of or relating to the presumed or approximate value, rather than the actual value.

Very

(finance) Of, relating to, or being the amount or face value of a sum of money or a stock certificate, for example, and not the purchasing power or market value.

A thing or whole having actual existence. Often used with the

(finance) Of, relating to, or being the rate of interest or return without adjustment for compounding or inflation.

(Mathematics) A real number.

(grammar) Of or relating to a noun or word group that functions as a noun.

A silver coin formerly used in Spain and Latin America.

(engineering) According to plan or design.

A unit of currency formerly used in Portugal.

(economics) Without adjustment to remove the effects of inflation.

See Table at currency.

Having values whose order is insignificant.

True, genuine, not merely nominal or apparent.

(taxonomy) Of a species, the species name without consideration of whether it is a junior synonym or in reality consists of more than one biological species.

Genuine, not artificial, counterfeit, or fake.

(grammar) A noun or word group that functions as part of a noun phrase.

Genuine, unfeigned, sincere.

(grammar) A part of speech that shares features with nouns and adjectives. (Depending on the language, it may comprise nouns, adjectives, possibly numerals, pronouns, and participles.)

Actually being, existing, or occurring; not fictitious or imaginary.

A number (usually natural) used like a name; a numeric code or identifier. (See nominal number on Wikipedia.)

That has objective, physical existence.

A person listed in the Police National Computer database as having been convicted, cautioned or recently arrested.

(economics) Having been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation; measured in purchasing power contrast nominal.

Of or pertaining to a name or names; having to do with the literal meaning of a word; verbal; as, a nominal definition.

(economics) Relating to the result of the actions of rational agents; relating to neoclassical economic models as opposed to Keynesian models.

Existing in name only; not real; as, a nominal difference.

Being either a rational number, or the limit of a convergent infinite sequence of rational numbers: being one of a set of numbers with a one-to-one correspondence to the points on a line.

Within acceptable limits; as expected; as, the hydraulic lines are at nominal pressure; - used mostly in aviation and space operations.

(legal) Relating to immovable tangible property.

Insignificant; trifling; - of prices or costs, as compared with the benefits gained; as, to pay a nominal sum for the data; a nominal fee.

Absolute, complete, utter.

A nominalist.

(slang) Signifying meritorious qualities or actions especially as regard the enjoyment of life, prowess at sports, or success wooing potential partners.

A verb formed from a noun.

Really, very.

A name; an appellation.

A commodity; see realty.

Relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name;

(grammar) One of the three genders that the common gender can be separated into in the Scandinavian languages.

Insignificantly small; a matter of form only (`tokenish' is informal);

(mathematics) A real number.

Pertaining to a noun or to a word group that functions as a noun;

(obsolete) A realist.

Being value in terms of specification on currency or stock certificates rather than purchasing power;

Former unit of currency of Spain and Spain's colonies.

Named; bearing the name of a specific person;

A coin worth one real.

Being such in name only;

A unit of currency used in Portugal and its colonies from 1430 until 1911, and in Brazil from 1790 until 1942.

A coin worth one real.

A unit of currency used in Brazil since 1994. Symbol: R$.

A coin worth one real.

A former small Spanish silver coin; also, a denomination of money of account, formerly the unit of the Spanish monetary system.

A realist.

Royal; regal; kingly.

Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life.

True; genuine; not artificial, counterfeit, or factitious; often opposed to ostensible; as, the real reason; real Madeira wine; real ginger.

Relating to things, not to persons.

Having an assignable arithmetical or numerical value or meaning; not imaginary.

Pertaining to things fixed, permanent, or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as, real property, in distinction from personal or movable property.

Any rational or irrational number

An old small silver Spanish coin

Being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory;

No less than what is stated; worthy of the name;

Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something;

Not synthetic or spurious; of real or natural origin;

Not to be taken lightly;

Possible to be treated as fact;

Being value measured in terms of purchasing power;

Having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary;

(of property) fixed or immovable;

Coinciding with reality;

Founded on practical matters;

Used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal;