adjective
practical
Effectively so, though not strictly or completely.
With every seat sold, a full house is a practical certainty.
Etymology
Practical concerns what happens in actual practice. This sense judges a description by its real effects, even if it is not strictly true in every detail.
More examples
- The company holds a practical monopoly on internet service here.
- Finishing this much work tonight is a practical impossibility.
- After years apart, the cousins are practical strangers.
Forms
practical
practically adverb — Almost, though not completely or strictly.