actual

1. not comparablelifestylerelating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practicalFirst known use 14th c.

   Let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is […] by a special prayer or action, […] given to God.

   1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

   2 more examples

   In this slumbry agitation, besides her walking, and other actuall performances, what (at any time) haue you heard her say?

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   Apparently, the holy Doctor was referring to actual, rather than original, sin; yet the basis of his argument for Mary's holiness, the divine maternity, would logically lead to the conclusion that she was free from original sin also.

   1946, The American Ecclesiastical Review, volume 114

2. not comparableExisting in reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.First known use 14th c.

   the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion

   3 more examples

   The actual government expenses dramatically exceed the budget.

   The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.

   2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18

   Synonyms: real, effective · Antonyms: potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, nominal, hypothetical

3. not comparablePhysical rather than virtual.

   Unlike the other phishing attacks discussed earlier, these attacks reach you via your actual mailbox.

4. not comparablenow rare or non-native speakers' Englishin action at the time being; now existing; current.First known use 18th c.

   To my actual feelings it seems incredible that I could ever believe that I believed in Transubstantiation!

   c. 1793, Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life, Penguin, published 1990, page 85

   1 more example

   If this be your actual situation, compared to the situation to which you were called, as it were by the voice of God and man, I cannot find it in my heart to congratulate you on the choice you have made, or the success which has attended your endeavours.

   1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the revolution in France

   Synonyms: present

5. not comparableUsed as intensifier to emphasise a following noun; exact, specific, very.First known use 18th c.

   [H]ow the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, the seat of consciousness.

   2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

plural actuals

1. an actual, real one; notably:
   1. countableuncountablebusinesssomething actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones.
   2. countableuncountablegovernmenta radio callsign modifier that specifies the commanding officer of the unit or asset denoted by the remainder of the callsign and not the officer's assistant or other designee.

      Bravo Six Actual, this is Charlie One. Come in, over.

2. uncountableReality, usually with the definite article.

   There was that desolate air about the chamber which is peculiar to an ill-furnished London room: cities need luxuries, were it only to conceal the actual.

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 161