reality check

Noun

reality check (plural reality checks)

1. A check or review to make sure something is consistent, reasonable, etc.
   • Near-synonyms: sanity check, sanity test; sniff test
   • Be sure to do a reality check on the idea before releasing it.

   Synonyms:

   sanity check, sanity test, sniff test

   1. (lucid dreaming) a test done to establish if one is dreaming
      • I had this dream last night where I was at my grandparents’ house when a large plastic hippo started sliding backwards up the driveway. I did a reality check, as one does in this situation, and it worked. I knew I was streaming.[…]2022 November 5, NyFlow_, “Reality checks work during dreams, but it’s like I’m not really lucid and can’t ground myself for some reason. I just go back to normal dreaming. Help?”, in Reddit...
2. (idiomatic) A wake-up call; a reminder.
   • Over the last six years, I've been doing a tremendous amount of public speaking and I hope that my coming out about being HIV positive is a reality check for other young people, that hearing a peer speak from personal experience has an impact on them.1999, Katherine Martin, Women of Courage, Inspiring Stories from the Women Who Lived Them, page 24
   • United's renaissance under manager Erik ten Hag already has the tangible reward of the Carabao Cup but Liverpool unleashed a brutal reality check on their progress with a severe thrashing.2023 March 5, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport