virtual
- 01 B1 Intermediate
created by a computer or existing online rather than in the physical world.
existing or occurring on a computer or the internet; simulated by software to appear real or physical.
Simple“The museum offers a virtual tour for people who cannot visit in person.”
In context“The engineering team conducted a virtual simulation of the bridge's stress points before any physical construction began.”
UsageOften used before nouns like 'tour', 'meeting', or 'assistant'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
being something in effect or result, even if it is not officially that thing.
being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted as such.
Simple“The team's defeat was a virtual certainty after their best player got injured.”
In context“By the end of the third quarter, the incumbent's victory was a virtual certainty, despite the remaining uncounted ballots.”
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'a virtual certainty' or 'a virtual monopoly'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
a part of a computer program that can be changed or replaced by another part later.
relating to a class member function that can be overridden in a derived class to support polymorphism.
Simple“The programmer defined a virtual function to allow different types of shapes to be drawn.”
In context“The base class declares the destructor as virtual to ensure that the derived class's resources are correctly deallocated.”
Teacher's tipThis is a highly specialized term in object-oriented programming; general learners will rarely encounter it outside of coding contexts.
- 04 C2 Proficiency
describing something in science that exists for a very short time or appears to be in a place where it is not.
relating to particles or states that exist briefly due to the uncertainty principle, or images formed where light rays appear to diverge.
Simple“A mirror creates a virtual image that looks like it is behind the glass.”
In context“In quantum field theory, virtual particles mediate the forces between real particles during an interaction.”
Antonyms
Usage virtual reality · virtual absence · virtual environment
“Instead, they can remain at home, respond to emails or messages, attend virtual meetings or carry out urgent tasks while ill.”
“The AI development seems to have stalled, and the virtual reality thing seems to be dead on arrival, at least for now.”
PIE word *wiHrós The adjective is derived from Middle English vertual, virtual [and other forms], from Old French vertüal, vertüelle (modern French virtuel), or from their etymon Medieval Latin virtuālis (“of or pertaining to potency or power; having power to produce an effect, potent; morally virtuous”), from Latin virtūs (“goodness, virtue; manliness, virility”) (from vir (“adult male, man”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wiHrós (“man”), possibly from weyh₁- (“to chase, hunt, pursue”)) + -tūs (suffix forming collective or abstract nouns)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship), modelled after virtuōsus (“good, virtuous”). Adjective sense 4 (“pertaining to a theoretical infinitesimal velocity in a mechanical system that does not violate the system’s constraints”) is borrowed from French virtuel, from Middle French virtuel, from Old French vertüal, vertüelle: see above. The noun is derived from the adjective. Cognates * French virtuel * Italian virtuale * Spanish virtual
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.