real

real pronunciation

/REEL/

Meaning

Before a word like good, tired, or pretty, real means very. "That pie is real good" is everyday Southern and Appalachian talk, not a grammar mistake. It is a flat adverb: the -ly never shows up because the sentence already tells you real is doing intensifier work. Same family as awful cold and mighty fine.

How folks use it

• “I'm real tired of that truck rattling every time we hit a washboard.”
• “She makes a real fine pot of beans.”

Origin and etymology

American English has used intensifying real since at least the 1800s. Southern, Appalachian, and Midland speech kept it thick in casual talk while school English pushed really. The pattern fits older flat adverbs that never needed the -ly ending.

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