practicality

[ prak-ti-kal-i-tee ]

noun

, plural prac·ti·cal·i·ties.

1. the quality of being adapted or designed for actual use; usefulness or convenience:

   Your home furniture choices should be based on practicality, durability, and beauty.

2. interest in or inclination toward actual work or activity as opposed to theories or ideas:

   My mother was an entrepreneur whose tremendous vision, teamed with her practicality, “moved mountains.”

3. a detail or consideration involved in putting something into action:

   She talked with culinary students about their dreams as well as the practicalities of launching a food business.

4. the constraints or demands of real life or actual implementation:

   Economy and practicality dictate that we can't save every green space from development.

5. the quality or fact of relating to actual activity, especially ordinary or everyday activity:

   I appreciate the real-world practicality of the question, “What does it mean to be a father?”

Other Words From

• non·prac·ti·cal·i·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of practicality¹

practical ( def ) + -ity ( def )

Example Sentences

In practicality, many importers incur these costs themselves and then pass some of these costs onto consumers so that these businesses can maintain healthy profit margins.

From Salon

Her platform was all about practicality.

From Los Angeles Times

Although specialized tax deductions like this sound good, it's hard to take advantage of them in practicality.

From Salon

Her platform is all practicality: making farm loans more accessible; better insulating mobile homes to save energy; giving people the right to choose where to repair broken appliances and the like, rather than having to ship them back to the manufacturer.

From Los Angeles Times

While the practicality of Harris’s proposal may be debatable, its political shrewdness is undeniable.

From Salon

Related Words

• common-sense