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Actual vs Faithful - What's the difference?

actual | faithful | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between actual and faithful

is that actual is existing in act or reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact while faithful is loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause.

As nouns the difference between actual and faithful

is that actual is an actual, real one; notably while faithful is the practicing members of a religion or followers of a cause.

actual

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Existing in act or reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}
  • Factual, real, not just apparent or even false.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=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.}}
  • (dated) In action at the time being; now existing; current.
  • (obsolete) Active, not passive.
  • * Shakespeare
    • her walking and other actual performances.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
    • Let your holy and pious intention be actual ; that is given to God.
  • Used to emphasise a noun or verb, whether something is real or metaphorical.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The machine of a new soul , passage=The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how 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.}}

    Usage notes

    * In some foreign languages the counterpart of (actual) means “current”. This meaning also occurs in English written by non-native speakers, but is nonstandard English. * The phrase (term) is criticised by many as redundant., page 3

    Synonyms

    * (existing in act or reality) real * (in action at the time being) present * positive

    Antonyms

    * (existing in act or reality) potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, nominal, hypothetical, estimated * (in action at the time being) future, past

    Derived terms

    * actualism * actualist * actuality * actualize * actualization * actually

    Related terms

    * activity * actor * actuary

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An actual, real one; notably:
  • # (finance) Something actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones.
  • # (military) A 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 , Snakebite leader" (The person with the callsign "Snakebite leader" requests to speak to the commander of company Bravo and not the radio operator.)

    See also

    * certain * genuine

    References

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    faithful

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
    • My dog is a very faithful dog.
  • having faith
    • Some people are faithful to their god.
  • reliable; worthy of trust
    • My servant is very faithful .
  • consistent with reality
    • I would consider that a very faithful reproduction.
  • engaging in sexual relations only with one's spouse or long-term sexual partner
    • They had been faithful to each other all of their married life.

    Derived terms

    * faithfully * faithfulness

    See also

    * go to the wall for someone * stand by * true

    Noun

    (-)
  • The practicing members of a religion or followers of a cause.
    • The faithful pray five times a day.