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Glite Dictionary
to break reality

to break reality

8.5
To make people doubt what is real using art or media
  • phrasal verb
  • Literature
translation icon : romper la realidad
  • Virtual reality technology can sometimes break reality for users, making them question what is real.

Examples

  • Some writers aim to break reality with stories that blur the line between fact and fantasy.

  • The director uses special effects to break reality and create a dreamlike world.

  • The film aims to break reality with its stunning visuals!

  • Artists often break reality through their imaginative works.

  • Some writers aim to break reality with stories that blur the line between fact and fantasy.

  • The director uses special effects to break reality and create a dreamlike world.

  • Artists often break reality through their imaginative works.

Synonyms

to shatter
vsto break reality
48 4.6

Cause deep pain to someone's feelings and destroy their hopes

aims to alter people's sense of what is real rather than harm emotions
to fracture
vsto break reality
37 7.2

To damage a rule, promise, or relationship

focuses on altering what people perceive as real rather than social rules
pushing boundaries
vsto break reality
  • Informal
3 6.0

Challenging normal limits or rules to try new ideas

targets changing how people understand reality rather than broadly challenging norms
to rend the fabric of reality
vsto break reality
  • Literature
9.9

To make people feel that reality is broken and strange

is less violent and may use subtle or creative distortions through art

Antonyms

to confirm
∞ 1.8

To show that something is true by giving evidence

How Distorting

to break reality
  • Literature
8.5
to distort
97 4.6

Surface Forms

break reality infinitive
breaking reality present participle
breaks reality third person singular
broke reality past
broken reality past participle

Morphology

break + reality

The parts 'break' and 'reality' together give a clear literal cue — to damage or shatter what is real — so a learner who knows both words can infer a general sense of disrupting perception. However, the usage is metaphorical and not a fixed, standard compositional pattern (the precise artistic/interpretive nuance may not be predictable), so it is partially but not fully transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The verb break reality gives a clear picture: break like smashing a window and reality the everyday world, so the border between the real and the imagined falls away. So when artists or films 'break reality', they change how we see things and make us question 'what is real'.