as in seeming
very close to being something without actually being it
Even after twenty years living on the same street the reclusive man was still a virtual stranger to his neighbors.
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Recent Examples of virtual
Even a virtual check-in could mean a lot!
—
Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
Patients recovering from pneumonia, heart failure, infections, and other conditions now regularly receive daily virtual physician visits, intermittent nursing support, IV therapies, diagnostics, and monitoring — without a hospital stay.
—Lee Fleisher, STAT, 6 Jan. 2026
The last year that average annual gas prices nationwide were as low as GasBuddy projects for this year was 2020, when the Covid pandemic kept millions of Americans working from home and schools largely virtual.
—Hannah Parker, NBC news, 6 Jan. 2026
Daily press conferences will also be held on-site and streamed live on Zoom, where virtual attendees can ask questions, and on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for virtual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for virtual
seeming
Adjective
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The seeming impossibility of Shane and Ilya’s homosexual love affair makes for an enjoyable sort of narrative edging.—
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With a full roster in hand, the group will call employees directly, pretending to be a new hire with innocuous-seeming questions about platforms, cloud access, and other tech infrastructure.—
Cite this Entry
“Virtual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/virtual. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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