reality TV

A form of reality television — A genre of television programming portraying one or more people who are not professional actors and depicting their reactions to given stimuli or goals.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounreality TV (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of reality television.

    It may feel like video martyrdom to you, but it's just live, reality TV!

    1991 November 28, Fred D'Ignazio, “D'Iversions”, in COMPUTE, COMPUTE Publications, pages G–22
    1 more example

    Historically, reality TV has spiked in popularity during times of societal and economic hardship. “If you look at literature on why people watch reality TV, that’s one of the main reasons: escapism,” said Danielle J. Lindemann, the author of “True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us.”

    2025 July 7, Sadiba Hasan, quoting Danielle Lindemann, “Why Is Everyone Watching ‘Love Island USA’?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

reality TV. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20TV

MLA

“reality TV.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20TV. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reality TV,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20TV.

Source: reality TV on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.