Real-time

//ˈɹiːəltaɪm// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Communicated as the events being responded to occur; communicated or proceeding without much delay. not-comparable

    "It will provide a wireless navigation service that can deliver turn-by-turn route guidance and real-time traffic and weather information. Motorola is the first company to create such a solution, […]"

  2. 2
    Of a system: that responds to events or signals within a predictable time after their occurrence; specifically the response time must be within the maximum allowed, but is typically synchronous. not-comparable

    "The projects, which are due to start in November, are: Real-time prediction and mitigation of disruption through personalised passenger communications - [...]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    of or relating to computer systems that update information at the same rate they receive information wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
rt

Example

More examples

"Real-time video chat, spacecraft, virtual reality, instant access in the palm of your hand to all the information humanity has ever produced — the future is here!"

Etymology

From real time.

Related phrases

hard real-timeimmediate real-timenear real-timereal-time attackreal-time strategysoft real-time

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.