practical

practical
    adj 1: concerned with actual use or practice; "he is a very
           practical person"; "the idea had no practical
           application"; "a practical knowledge of Japanese";
           "woodworking is a practical art" [ant: {impractical}]
    2: guided by practical experience and observation rather than
       theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-
       nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to
       business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics" [syn:
       {hardheaded}, {hard-nosed}, {practical}, {pragmatic}]
    3: being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical
       failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin" [syn:
       {virtual(a)}, {practical(a)}]
    4: having or put to a practical purpose or use; "practical
       mathematics"; "practical applications of calculus"
    

Practical \Prac"ti*cal\, a. [L. practicus active, Gr. ? fit for
   doing or performing, practical, active, fr. ? to do, work,
   effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf.
   {Pragmatic}, {Practice}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to practice or action.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in
      distinction from {ideal} or {theoretical}; as, practical
      chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." --South. "For
      all practical purposes." --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge
      to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Practical joke}, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of
      which consists in something done, in distinction from
      something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.
      [1913 Webster]
    

147 Moby Thesaurus words for "practical":
      achievable, actable, adaptable, advantageous, appliable,
      applicable, applied, appropriate, attainable, balanced, banausic,
      beneficial, breadwinning, businesslike, commercial, commodious,
      commonsense, compassable, compliant, constructive, convenient,
      cool, coolheaded, doable, down-to-earth, ductile, earthy,
      effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, empirical,
      employable, everyday, expedient, exploitable, feasible, field,
      fitting, flexible, foolproof, functional, go, good for, handy,
      hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, hardheaded, helpful, hoaxproof,
      judicious, levelheaded, logical, malleable, manageable,
      maneuverable, manipulable, manipulatable, materialistic,
      matter-of-fact, moneymaking, mundane, negotiable,
      not born yesterday, of general utility, of help, of service,
      of use, old, old-time, operable, operatable, operational,
      operative, ordinary, overcomable, performable, personal,
      philosophical, pliable, pliant, positivistic, practicable,
      practical-minded, practiced, pragmatic, pragmatical, proper,
      prosaic, rational, realist, realistic, realizable, reasonable,
      reusable, sane, scientific, scientistic, seasoned, secular,
      sensible, serviceable, skilled, sober, sober-minded, sophisticated,
      sound, sound-thinking, straight-thinking, superable, surmountable,
      tough-minded, tractable, uncullible, undeceivable, undeludable,
      undupable, unfoolable, ungullible, unhoaxable, unideal,
      unidealistic, unromantic, unseduceable, unsentimental,
      untroublesome, usable, useable, useful, utilitarian, utilizable,
      versed, vet, veteran, viable, virtual, well-balanced, wieldable,
      wieldy, wise, workable, workaday, workday, working, worldly,
      yielding