reality check
Dose of truth
A reality check is a moment of confronting actual circumstances rather than assumptions or wishful thinking.
Someone might need a reality check when their plans ignore obvious obstacles: His friends gave him a reality check about his chances of making the team.
The phrase often implies a correction—bringing someone back down to earth.
Jolt into awareness
- sobering momentEvent prompting sudden seriousness
- rude awakeningStartling unpleasant realization
- hard truthUnpleasant accurate statement
- moment of clarityInstant of sudden understanding
snap out of it · facing facts · brutal honesty · straight talk · no-nonsense · unvarnished truth · tough love · candor
Notation pointing elsewhere
- validationConfirming truth or accuracy
- confirmationEstablishing something as true
- proofDemonstration of truth
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
due diligence · vetting · scrutiny · audit · review · assessment · evaluation · testing
Purposeful involvement to change course
- calling outPublicly confronting behavior
- truth bombJarring honest declaration
- challengeTest of ability
- pushbackResistance to something proposed
honest conversation · holding accountable · setting straight
wake-up call
Jolt into awareness
- sobering momentEvent prompting sudden seriousness
- rude awakeningStartling unpleasant realization
- hard truthUnpleasant accurate statement
moment of clarity · snap out of it · facing facts · brutal honesty · straight talk · no-nonsense · unvarnished truth · tough love · candor
cross-reference
Notation pointing elsewhere
- validationConfirming truth or accuracy
- confirmationEstablishing something as true
- proofDemonstration of truth
evidence · due diligence · vetting · scrutiny · audit · review · assessment · evaluation · testing · examination
intervention
Purposeful involvement to change course
- calling outPublicly confronting behavior
- truth bombJarring honest declaration
- challengeTest of ability
honest conversation · pushback · holding accountable · setting straight
- reality checkswake-up call, eye-opener, harsh truth, moment of truth, sobering moment
- experiencesadventure, journey, moment, event, feeling
- verifyconfirm, verify, validate, authenticate, certify
- checkspaycheck, blank checks, personal checks, preflight, final review
- harsh realitiesbitter truth, hard truth, harsh truth, home truth, brutal honesty
- post-holiday bluesblues, fatigue, cleanup, routine, laundry
reality checkself-deception
Convincing yourself of falsehoods
delusion · wishful thinking · fantasy · denial · illusion
reality checkdenial
Refusal to accept reality
self-deception · delusion · willful ignorance · head in the sand · self-delusion