Unrealistically means in a way that doesn't match how things actually work in the real world. When you expect something unrealistically, you're hoping for an outcome that's extremely unlikely or impossible given the actual situation.

If you plan unrealistically for a project, you might assume you can finish a three-hour assignment in 20 minutes, or that you'll get a perfect score without studying. Athletes who train unrealistically might expect to make the Olympic team after just a few weeks of practice. These expectations ignore reality: how long things actually take, how much effort success requires, or what's physically possible.

The word often appears when someone's hopes or plans don't account for important limits. A movie might show someone unrealistically surviving a fall that would seriously injure a real person. A business plan might unrealistically assume that every customer will buy the most expensive product.

Being realistic doesn't mean giving up on ambitious goals. It means understanding what's genuinely possible and planning accordingly. If you want to improve your mile time, a realistic goal might be shaving off 30 seconds over several months of training, while an unrealistic goal would be breaking the world record next week.