Definition
Virtual describes something that exists in effect or in software but not in solid, physical form: a virtual meeting, a virtual classroom, virtual reality. From the Latin virtus, 'power' or 'capacity,' it once meant being so in essence, and that older sense survives in 'virtually', meaning almost or in practice. The thread holds throughout — a virtual thing has all the function of the real one and none of its substance. A virtual model can behave exactly like the object it mirrors, yet there is nothing there to touch.
Examples
- The pandemic pushed universities to move nearly every lecture into virtual classrooms.
- In a virtual simulation, engineers can load the bridge until it fails without risking a single robust beam.
- The two designs are virtually identical apart from the colour.
Collocations
virtual reality·a virtual meeting·virtually impossible·a virtual certainty·in virtual terms
Synonyms
simulated·digital·online·effective·near-total
Antonyms
physical·tangible·actual
Word family
virtually (adverb)·virtuality (noun)·virtualize (verb)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Two examiner-friendly senses. The tech sense ('virtual reality', 'virtual classroom') is everywhere in TOEFL/IELTS essays on education and technology. The adverb virtually (= almost / in practice — 'virtually impossible', 'virtually all students') is a precise hedging device for Writing. Don't read virtually as literally 'by computer'; context decides. Stress falls on the first syllable: VIR-tu-al.